Freedom Blues

Chab Khaled: La Liberté (1er version) 1984 / شاب خالد 

 

*** 

  Moi... Son sortilège a fondu
A moi la liberté
Celle qui m'a brûlé
A moi la liberté
On m'a aveuglé
Et noirci le coeur
Celle qui m'a enflamme´
Et la liberté
L'amour pour une beauté
M'a seccoué les os
Et la liberté
Ô mon raï...
On m'a voilé les yeux
Pour que je ne puisse pas la voir
La liberté 

 Khaled - quoted from the booklet "liberté"

♥

 

 Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.  ~Abraham Lincoln

the king of Raï (and the she-devil of trab)

as promised earlier some Raï, (and  not rai or rye)
from  the king of Rai
and  a k7-around early 80's ? when the young Khaled was better  known as Chab Khaled.
essential Khaled

Mcpe 1060

equally you wouldn't  want to miss this Algerian  lady, another  incarnation of the devil himself
Cheikha Djenia and her amazing trab
(the rural variation of rai played with tambour  and gasba reed flutes)

right there.....
Kayene Rabi

:)
have a nice weekend

Ya Rayah

 "Ya Rayah" (Arabic: يا الرايح Yâ ar-râyiḥ) is an Algerian "chaabi" song composed and performed in the 1970s by Dahmane El Harrachi (Amrani Aberrahmane). Up until the past 15 years this song was known to be Dahman El Harrachi's original song and in the Chaabi/Andalous tradition of Algiers. This song is a ballad of the traveler, the exiled, the longing to come back, the immigrant, the "wanderin' star", etc. hence it's universal appeal. In 1993, it was also performed by French-Algerian pop singer Rachid Taha on his second self titled album. Also in 2003 by Enrico Macias at the Olympia in Paris. 

Dahmane El-Harrachi:

 

  

  Rachid Taha:

  

 Kamel El Harrachi:

  

Like father, like son. In both appearance and talent, Kamel resembles his father, the late Dahmane el Harrachi, popular chaabi singer and composer of the song "Ya Rayah", which became an international hit by Rachid Taha. His father died in 1980. Kamel was only seven but he vowed to follow in his footsteps. He had grown up immersed in the classic sounds of chaabi and set out to develop these influences into his own style. In 1994 he moved to France and, like his father, began to play in small Parisian cafes. Over the next years he honed his craft, gathered his musicians and built himself a formidable reputation amongst the Algerian community in Paris. Finally he felt ready to record and 2009 saw the release of Ghana Fenou, a tribute to his father.

 

***

Ya Rayah

يا رايح وين تسافر تروح تعيي وتولينى
ايش حال ندموا العباد الغافلين قبلك وقبلى

ايش حال شفت البلدان العامرين والبر الخالى
ايش حال ضيعت اوقات وايش حال زيد ما زال تخلى
يا الغايب فى بلاد الناس ايش حال تعيي ما تجرى
تزيد وعد القدرة ولى الزمان وانت ما تدرى

علاش قلبك حزين وعلاش هكدا كى الزوال
ما تدوم الشدة ولا تزيد تعلم وتبنى
ما يدومولى الايام ولا يدوم صغرك وصغرى
ويا حليلو المسكين اللى غاب سعده كى زهرى

يا مسافر نعطيك وصية تيجاها ع البكرى
شوف ما يصلح ليك قبل ولا تبيع ولا تشرى
يا النايم جانى خبرك كى ماصرالك صار لى
هكدا رد القلب والجبين..سبحان العالى

Ya Rayah

Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali
"Oh traveler where are you going, you'll go, get tired, and come back"

Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli
"How the people failed, before you and me"

[repition again]Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali
Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli

Chhal cheft al bouldan laamrine wa lber al khali
"How many cities i've seen and the deserted desert"

Chhal dhiyaat wqat chhal tzid mazal ou t'khali
"How much time i've wasted, how much more, still and you leave it" (roughly)

Ya lghayeb fi bled ennas chhal taaya ma tadjri
"Oh you absent one from the country of the people, how tired can you be and run"

Tzid waad el qoudra wala zmane wenta ma tedri
"You'll add more og th epromising will, it became history, and you didn't know"

[repition x2] Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali
Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli
Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali
Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli

Ya msafer naatik oussaayti addiha el bakri
"Oh traveller, i'll give you my advice take it [with you] ahead of time"

Chouf ma yeslah bik qbal ma tbia ou ma techri
"Look, what could be good for you, before you start selling and buying" (this is a saying in algeria)

Ya nnayem djani khabrek ma sralek ma srali
"Oh you sleeper, i got your news, what has happened to you happened to me"

Hakdha rad el qalb bel djbine sabhane el aali
"Like this the heart has accpeted from the Amighty [God]"

[repition x4]Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali
Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli
Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali
Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli
Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali
Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli
Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali
Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli

 

translation by nanu

Zebda-Essence Ordinaire-Origines Contrôlées

I never had any   problem with rock or pop(ular) music esp the kind of  politically conscious one
and I still enjoy

this good time guerrilla
I guess many of you too
judging from the number of downloads
and   they were not even properly posted!
shhhh  :)..
one,two, many Zebdas to clean the murky pop waters,I miss their clever words ,the sentiments ,the energy..the anti-star attitude ...
.........................

"We who live by rock and rai and accordion/On the periphery of commercial hits" is a line from Zebda's hometown portrait Toulouse and that's a pretty accurate capsule description of where the French band fronted by three second-generation North African immigrants fits among the Euro-mix crew......
Zebda (زبدة, transliterated Zibdah), the Arabic word for butter (beurre in French), is a play on the word beur, a French slang word referring to French citizens of Arab origin,several of the group's members are of North African and other immigrant descent.

As Zebda was originally formed for a community organization and many of the members met through social initiatives and activism, the band remained highly political throughout its existence; Bruce Crumley of the Culture Kiosque has called the group "politically engaged and culturally committed" and "politically progressive.

"Much of the group's music and lyrics have centered around issues of political and social justice among the immigrant community and inhabitants of the banlieues.

Difference, discrimination, and exclusion are themes that feature heavily in J'y suis, j'y reste 

The themes of Zebda's music were known for dealing in issues of racism and intolerance....

wiki

tomber la chemise


 Essence Ordinaire


"The album can easily be found in Chinese underground record markets,

 and it is apparently one of the best known French rap albums in mainland China."

from wiki

Zebda/Audience  in interaction !

plus *

the return  -in 07-of the distinguished members of Zebda,,Tacticollectif and les Motivés
 from Toulouse,brothers Anfas- Mouss and Hakim with a  musical project under the name Origines Contrôlées,
of historic proportions as they exhumed  songs from the last 40 years,
composed by Algerian artists exiled in France,to create

a tribute to the music of the immigrants from Algeria  during the "thirty glorious years".
from the early 40s up to the late 80s,when a  generation of artists with very different styles sang
the departure and the absence, the exile, but also the political struggle or the loneliness of the immigrants .
A variety of pure and hard edged  poetry, dance rhythms or romantic melodies, from singers-songwriters  like
 Mohamed Slimane ,Nourredine Meziane,
Dahmane El Harrachi, Cheikh
Bouyazgaren, Cheikh El Hasnaoui Azem,Mazouni,el Sheikh Hasnain,or the late Lounes Matoub
where inspiration has taken many forms,
as all these songs have marked
the lives of the millions of Algerians who arrived on the soil of France shortly after the war.
Childhood memories,the almost forgotten 45's from the portable pick-ups or the juke boxes of the cafes ,
a tribute to a wonderful heritage and the transmission of the values
of universal citizenship,courage and freedom,
and to the generations beyond the sea, with all the talent and the generosity of Origines Contrôlées





Chansons de l'immigration Algérienne

رايح فرحان, مولي ماشي ندمان
قلع الكشطة رماها ولبس بيري
تعلم الدخان و زاد هم الكيسان
كان عربي حر بالصحيح جزائري

Amar el Achab-The chaabi of the great masters

The chaabi, which means `folk', is  typical   Algerian   music. It was first made famous in the sixties from El Hadj Muhammad El Anka, the songs are  generally in call and response form: a soloist to whom a small chorus answers.The song is expressed with  the qasida poetry and rests musically on a form that points  to the direction of the arabo-Andalusian music,as  specialists think that it is derived. The chaabi is built on the alternation of the verse-refrain, and its poetic set of themes often directs it towards social criticism or satire, although these last years due to  the Algerian political situation,has changed course into approaching different topics.In all cases  simplicity is the best element of chaabi.
The singers of chaabi are numerous, and their notoriety depends on the care which they take to choose the  poetry and the music.

Amar El Achab was born July 31st 1932 in Algiers .He was one of the leading chaabi composers and performers in Algiers during the 1950s and 60s. He immigrated to France in 1976 .Amar El Achab is a well cultured musician that plays a chaabi close  to the arabo-Andalusian  spirit but also capable of   bringing   it with  playful easiness  near the popular form . His sphere of activity is thus broader. Uncontested Master, he owes his success to his very strong musical temperament and  his direction of the tempo.
 The richest parts of this live recording are the various improvised interludes such as the ones in the zidan mode and the mawwal mode. During a concert, these interludes serve the purpose of allowing the singer and musicians to show off his  vocal ornamentation and improvisational skills and El Achab's dramatic, throaty improvisations are superb.

review:
This is the real desert blues, the hardcore sha'bi or chaabi sound that's been the music of the working classes and poor across North Africa for almost a century. And vocalist and mandola player Amar El Achab gives a hardcore rendition of the music, albeit in a modern, though not pop, fashion. His ensemble employs piano and banjo among more traditional instruments. Apart from his own compositions, much of the material here is traditional, although some pieces, like "Istikhbat Zidan," are group improvisations, a testament to the quality of this band. They can also get a very full sound on the uniquely Arabic songs, like "Goulou Yamna/Dites-le A Yamna," where mandola, guitar, and violin combine to give a wonderfully full sound. And using banjo, as opposed to the more expected oud, proves to be inspired, with a not immediately identifiable twang. On piano, Mustapha Yacoub is used sparingly, but to interesting effect on "El Goumri." And El Achab himself proves to be a master of mandola on the same track. It might not be easy listening for beginners, but this disc, recorded live at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, is perfect chaabi. ~ Chris Nickson, Rovi




Chaabi




and a net find :)

from El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka

as imagelink

.

Tarzagh & Othman -Imzad du Tassili N'Ajjer

Only women of the noble or the vassal tribes were permitted to play the imzad, the small one stringed fiddle that is the symbol of Touareg society. But now any female musician can teach the instrument to any woman who so desires. The imzad is made from half a calabash or from a wooden bowl that is covered in goatskin and to which is also attached a neck that supports one string of horsehair.

 The imzad players were greatly renowned and could play many melodies, those evoking past events or the high deeds of a hero whose name they bore by the richness of their variations; they could also accompany a man’s singing and, on occasion, also displayed therapeutic powers by curing melancholy and apathy.

Good players of the imzad are today becoming ever rarer and its repertoire is inexorably becoming smaller.

the woman plays the imzad while seated, with the instrument resting on her knees, her left hand holding the “tabourit” and pressing the “aziou”. The right hand holds the “tadjaihé” perpendicular to the string.
The flexible action of the hand, together with variable light pressure on the string, are the fundamental elements in producing the sound and thus the music.

No other instrument accompanies the Imzad
It can be accompanied by hand-clapping
It can be accompanied by a solo voice
Exceptionally, it can be accompanied by two voices
In such duets, the singing is sometimes mixed (man and woman), sometimes men only
There is a close link with the warrior traditions of the old days
The music also accompanies the women when they move their flocks to new pastures [transhumance]

thanks to ibn chaaba

Imzad 

more?