Music maroc

Gnawa or Gnaoua (Arabic alphabet: غناوة) refers to an ethnic group and a religious order, in part descended from former slaves from Sub-Saharan Africa or black Africans who migrated in caravans with the trans-Saharan trade, or a combination of both.
The name appears to originate from the Saharan Berber dialect word aguinaw (or agenaou) (Arabic: أݣناو), meaning "black (men)". This word in turn is possibly derived from the name of a city significant in the 11th century, in what is now western Mali, called Gana, in Arabic Ghana or Jenna and in Portuguese and later French Guinea or Jenné.
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The term Gnawa musicians generally refers to people who also practice healing rituals, with apparent ties to pre-Islamic African animism rites. In Moroccan popular culture, Gnawas, through their ceremonies, are considered to be experts in the magical treatment of scorpion stings and psychic disorders. They heal diseases by the use of colors, condensed cultural imagery, perfumes and fright.

Gnawas play deeply hypnotic trance music, marked by low-toned, rhythmic sintir melodies, call-and-response singing, hand clapping and cymbals called krakeb (plural of karkaba). Gnawa ceremonies use music and dance to evoke ancestral saints who can drive out evil, cure psychological ills, or remedy scorpion stings.

Gnawa music has won an international profile and appeal. Many Western musicians including Bill Laswell, Randy Weston, Adam Rudolph, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, have drawn on and collaborated with Gnawa musicians. Some traditionalists regard modern collaborations as a mixed blessing, leaving or modifying sacred traditions for more explicitly commercial goals. International recording artists such as Hassan Hakmoun have introduced Gnawa music and dance to Western audiences through their recordings and concert performances.

The centre for Gnawa music is Essaouira in the South of Morocco where festivals of Gnawa music are held periodically. The Gnawa of Marrakesh hold their annual festival at the sanctuary of Moulay Brahim in the Atlas Mountains.

Raï (Arabic: راي‎) is a form of folk music, originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s and has been primarily evolved by women in the culture. Raï literally means opinion but is colloquially used as an interjection along the lines of "oh, yeah!"

Singers of raï are called cheb (shabb, young) as opposed to sheikh (shaykh, old), the name given to Chaabi singers. The tradition arose in cities like Oran and elsewhere in Tlemcen, primarily among the poor. Traditionally sung by men, at the turn of the 20th century, female singers became common. Raï musicians as early as the 1930s were singing about social issues which affected native populations. These ranged from disease to the policing of European colonies.[1] Much like today's hip hop and rock artists, they sang about the current issues around them which was indeed revolutionary for their time.[2]

Raï is also popular for taking traditional sounds of the Middle East and "updating" them. Pop raï's reputation as a racy type of music has also influenced a fusion between raï and rock as well as several other "up and coming" styles.
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History

Raï is a popular music style that originated in Algeria in the 1930s. It became popular among young people who sought to modernize the traditional Islamic values and attitudes. Regional, secular, and religious drum patterns, melodies, and instruments were blended with Western electric instrumentation. Rai music mixes with hip hop, reggae, funk, blues and with North African beats and rhythms. Raï's lyrics song speak to a new nationalistic identity that encourages the union of contemporary and traditional ideals.

Oran, a seaport in Western Algeria, was invaded by the Spanish centuries ago; Spanish troops kept women there to entertain the troops, and the city has retained a reputation for hedonism ever since. In the early 20th century, Oran was divided into Jewish, French, Spanish, and Arab quarters. By independence in 1962, the Jewish quarter (known as the Derb), was home to popular musicians like Reinette L'Oranaise, Saoud L'Oranais and Larbi Bensari. Sidi el Houari was home to Spanish fishermen, many refugees from Spain who arrived after 1939. These two quarters were the centers for musical innovation,[3] and the French inhabitants of the city went to the Jewish and Spanish areas for music. The Arabs of Oran were known for al-andalous, a classical style of music imported from Southern Spain after 1492. Hawzi was popular between the wars, and the biggest stars were female singers like Cheikha Tetma, Fadila D'zirya and Myriam Fekkai. Melhun poetry with accompaniment was also popular, sung by male singers in long, white jellabas and turbans (known as cheikhs) who played guellal drums and gaspa flutes. This genre was known as bedoui (from its origin among Bedouin chants) or gharbi. Lyrics came from the poetry of masters like Mestfa ben Brahim and Zenagui Bouhafs, and performers included Cheikh Hamada, Cheikh Mohammed Senoussi, Cheikh Madani, Cheikh Hachemi Bensmir and Cheikh Khaldi. Senoussi was the first to record in 1906.


French colonization of Algeria changed the organization of society, producing a class of poor, uneducated urban men and women. Popular bedoui singers mostly collaborated with the French colonizers, though some, like Cheikh Hamada, were exceptions.[citation needed] The problems of survival in a life of poverty were the domain of street musicians who sang bar-songs called zendanis. Many of these songs included exclamations of raï! and variations on it, which implies an opinion is being expressed.

When first developed in the 1920s, rai was a hybrid blend of rural and cabaret musical genres, invented by and for distillery workers, peasants who had lost their land to European settlers, as well as countless other members of the lower classes. The geographical location of Oran allowed for the spread of many cultural influences, allowing rai musicians to absorb an assortment of musical styles; flamenco from Spain, gnawa music, French cabaret, and combined these with the rhythms of Arab nomads. Rai musicians maintained an everyday message, either political or historical, in many of their early songs. In the early 1930s, social issues afflicting the Arab population in the colony, such as the disease of typhus, harassment and imprisonment by the colonial police, and significant poverty were the major themes of rai. However, the main subjects were such things as wine, love, and the meaning and experiences of leading a marginal life. From its origins, women played a significant role in the music and performance of rai. In contrast to other Algerian music, true rai incorporated dancing in addition to music, particularly in a mixed-gender environment.[4] The original foundation for the importance of incorporating both a mixture of culture and gender can still be seen through in the newer rai lyrics and dance.[5]

As early as the 1930s, rai musicians were reportedly singing about social issues afflicting Arabs of the colony, such as typhus, imprisonment, and poverty, and they were harassed by the colonial police for doing so. Likewise, during the independence struggle, rai artists participated in the nationalist glorification of Algeria. But the main subjects of rai singers were wine, love, and the problems and pleasures of marginal life, expressions of a rather libertine sensibility. Women singers played a prominent role in rai from the beginning. In addition, unlike those of other Algerian musical genres, rai performances were associated with dancing, often in mixed-gender settings. [6]

In the 1920s, the women of Oran were held to strict code of conduct. Many of those that failed became social outcasts and singers and dancers. They sang medh songs in praïse of the prophet Mohammed and performed for female audiences at weddings, circumcision feasts and other ceremonies. These performers included Les Trois Filles de Baghdad, Soubira bent Menad and Kheira Essebsadija. Another group of female social outcasts were called cheikhas, who were known for their alluring dress, hedonistic lyrics, and a form of music that combined that of the cheikhs, meddhahates and zendani singers. These cheikhas sang for both men and women, and included Cheikha Remitti el Reliziana, perhaps the most famous cheikha. Other performers included Cheikha Grélo, Cheikha Djenia el Mostganmia, Cheikha Bachitta de Mascara and Cheikha a; Ouachma el Tmouchentia. The 1930s saw the rise of revolutionary organizations, many with a Marxist goal, which mostly despised these early roots raï singers. At the same time, the great voices of Arab classical music were gaining popularity across North Africa, especially Umm Kulthum.

Raï, al-andalous and the Egyptian classical superstars' style was combined in the 1930s to form wahrani, a style popularized by Blaoui Houari. Wahrani was very popular, as were American jazz and French cabaret singers like Édith Piaf, especially into the 1940s. Musicians like Mohammed Belarbi and Djelloul Bendaoud added these influences to other Oranian styles, as well as Western piano and accordion, resulting in a new style called bedoui citadinisé. Full-scale revolution began in the mid-1950s, and many of these stars, including Houari and Ahmed Saber, supported the Front de Libération National. After independence in 1962, however, the new Marxist government of the Houari Boumédienne regime, and President Ahmed Ben Bella, did not tolerate criticism from Saber and other musicians, and many were arrested. Raï and Oranian culture was suppressed.

After the election of the new president Chadli Bendjedid in 1979, Rai music had a chance to pick up because of his lessened moral and economic restraints. Shortly after this Rai started to form into Pop-Rai with the use of new instruments such as new electrical synthesizers, guitars, and drum machines. The new sound of this music attracted the Algerian youth more then ever, and then messages of the songs were very attractive to the people as well. The new sound also challenged many puritan views and more subjects like sex and alcohol started to be mentioned by the singers.[7] [8]

[edit] Post-independence

Algerian independence began a fluctuation of government control and suppression over raï. After Algeria's independence in 1962, a state-sponsored Islamic reformist movement descended over popular culture. Public performances by female singers who played a major role in raï were virtually banned. This led young men to have a key role in this genre of music. Meanwhile, traditional raï instruments such as the gasba (reed flute), and the derbouka (Maghrebi drums) were replaced with the violin and accordion.[4]

In the 1960s, American rock and roll and soul music was popular, and Algerian bands like The Vulures and The Students arose. The French Yé-yé craze was also popular, and two of the most influential musicians of the later 20th century began their career. Bellamou Messaoud and Belkacem Bouteldja modernized the raï sound and began gaining mainstream acceptance by 1964. Chaba Fadela and Cheb Khaled also began their careers during this period, as raï's popularity was growing across Algeria. Recording technology began growing more advanced, and more imported genres gained popularity as well, into the 1970s, especially Jamaican reggae performers like Bob Marley. 1979 was an important year for raï music. It started to break free from the shadows, due in part to the new president, Chadhli Benjedid, as he loosened the moral and economic hold that prevented totally free expression. During this time, raï artists brought in influences from other countries such as: Egypt, Europe, and the Americas. Trumpets, the electric guitar, synthesizers, and drum machines were specific instruments that now made their way into raï music. This was the beginning of "pop raï," which was performed by a younger generation of chabs (young men) and chabas (young women). [9] Fadela's 1979 "Ana ma h'lali ennoum" is considered the beginning of modern pop raï; the song was a hit across Algeria, and set the stage for raï's domination of national listeners. International success had begun as early as 1976 with the success of Rachid Baba Ahmed, raï music's most important producer.

While this new form of raï increased cassette sales, its association with mixed dancing- an obscene act according to orthodox Islamic views- led to government led suppression. However, within a short period of time, this suppression was overturned due to raï's growing popularity in France, where it was strongly demanded by the diasporic Maghrebi Arab community. This popularity in France was increased as a result of the upsurge of Franco-Arab struggles against racism. This led to a following of a white audience that was sympathetic to the antiracist struggle. [4]

In the 1980s, raï began its period of greatest popularity. Previously the Algerian government had opposed raï because of its sexually and culturally risqué topics, such as alcohol and consumerism, two subjects that were contrary to the traditional Islamic culture. The fundamentalist leaning government also disliked the freedom afforded to women in raï, both in performing raï and in participating in the raï scene by dancing publicly, especially with men, at concerts or in clubs. [4] The government eventually attempted to ban raï, going to the extent of banning the importation of blank cassettes and confiscating the passports of raï musicians. This was done to prevent raï from not only spreading throughout the country, but to prevent it from spreading transnationally, and from coming into or out from Algeria. Though this limited the professional sales of raï, the music increased in popularity through the illicit sale and exchange of tapes. In 1985, Algerian Colonel Snoussi joined with French minister of culture, Jack Lang, to convince the Algerian state to accept raï. [10] He succeeded in getting the government to return passports to raï musicians and allow raï to be recorded and performed in Algeria, with government sponsorship, claiming it as a part of Algerian cultural heritage. This not only allowed the Algerian government to financially gain from producing and releasing raï, but it allowed them to monitor the music and prevent the publication of "unclean" music, prevent dancing, and still use it to benefit the Algerian State's image in the national world, because of the allowance of a liberal musical genre. [11] In 1986, the first state-sanctioned raï festival was held in Algeria, and a festival was also held in Bobigny, France.

In 1988, when Algerian students and youth flooded the streets to protest state-sponsored violence, the high cost of staple foods, and in favor of the Peoples' Algerian Army, the government responded harshly [12]. President Chadli Bendjedid, who held power from 1979 to 1992, and his FLN cronies blamed raï for the massive uprising that left 500 civilians dead in October 1988. Most raï singers denied the allegation, including Cheb Sahraoui, who said there was no connection between raï and the October rebellion. Yet raï's reputation as protest music stuck because the demonstrators adopted one song—Khaled's "El Harba Wayn" ("To Flee, But Where?")—as their anthem

Chaabi (popular) is a music consisting of numerous varieties which are descended from the

multifarious forms of Moroccan folk music. Chaabi was originally performed in markets, but is now found at any celebration or meeting. Chaabi songs typically end with a leseb, or swift rhythmic section accompanied by syncopated clapping. A sophisticated form of chaabi evolved in the 1970s competing with popular Egyptian and Lebanese music. These chaabi groups consisted of a lute and a hadjuj, with some form of drum. Eventually, new instruments like buzuks and electric guitars were added. The three most important early groups were Lemchaheb, Nass El Ghiwane and Jil Jilala. All three bands featured politicized lyrics that got the songwriters in trouble with the government. The 1980s saw a new wave of modernizing bands like Muluk El Hwa and Nass El Hal.
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