ALGERIA – ALGÉRIE Mohamed Khaznadji محمد خزناجي – Musique Classique Algérienne - Noubat Ed Dhil – Les Artistes Arabes Associés N 72830

ALGERIA – ALGÉRIE
Mohamed Khaznadji محمد خزناجي – Musique Classique Algérienne - Noubat Ed Dhil – Les Artistes Arabes Associés N 72830, released 1987 (LP)

Following a post on Mohamed Tahar Fergani (1928-2016), the Malouf master from Constantine, we pursue our explorations of Algerian Nuba – also known as Arab-Andalusian classical music – with a totally brilliant album by the towering vocalist Mohamed Khaznadji (b. 1929) of Algiers’ Sanâa school on the essential label Les Artistes Arabes Associés.

Born into a musical family in the Casbah in Algiers, the young Khaznadji met many musicians at his father’s musical instrument shop. After starting out as a hazzab Quranic reciter, he trained with Cheikh Abderrahmane Belhocine who taught him all the facets of the Sanâa music tradition. Khaznadji embarked on a successful singing career and taught at the conservatory in Algiers to transmit his great knowledge of the authentic Nuba heritage to future generations.

 

These thrilling recordings of compositions comprising various movements, preludes and instrumental solos showcase Khaznadji’s poetic and contemplative vocal modulations and quivering, supported by an orchestra featuring violins, rebab bowed lutes, a mandolin, a quanun zither, an ud lute, darbuka drums, tar tambourines and the musicians’ singing in response to the maestro’s magnificent voice.

The refined civilization created during the Muslim rule of Spain embraced many domains, from science to religion, metaphysics, poetry, music, architecture and the arts, at a time when cities like Cordoba, Seville and Granada hosted and incorporated Moorish, Arabic, Hispanic, Christian and Jewish cultures in a spirit of openness and tolerance.

 

Following the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century, this musical heritage of a golden age migrated to North Africa where it continued to thrive and became an intrinsic part of the Maghreb’s identity.  

Suite à un post sur le maître du malouf constantinois Mohamed Tahar Fergani (1928-2016), nous poursuivons nos explorations de la Nouba algérienne – également appelée musique classique arabo-andalouse – avec un album exceptionel du chanteur Mohamed Khaznadji (né. 1929) de l'école Sanâa d'Alger sur l’incontournable label Les Artistes Arabes Associés.

 

Issu d'une famille de musiciens de la Casbah d'Alger, le jeune Khaznadji fréquente de nombreux musiciens dans la boutique d'instruments de musique de son père. Après avoir débuté comme lecteur du Coran (hazzab), Cheikh Abderrahmane Belhocine lui apprend toutes les facettes de la tradition musicale du Sanâa. Khaznadji se lance alors dans une grande carrière de chanteur et enseigne au conservatoire d'Alger afin de transmettre son grand savoir sur l'authentique tradition nouba aux générations futures.

 

Ces enregistrements de compositions comprenant divers mouvements, préludes et solos instrumentaux mettent en vedette les modulations et frémissements de la voix poétique et contemplative de Khaznadji, soutenus par un orchestre comprenant des violons, des luths à archet rebab, une mandoline, une cithare quanun, un luth ud, des tambours darbouka, des tambourins tar et le chant des musiciens répondant à la magnifique voix du maestro.

 

La civilisation raffinée créée pendant la domination musulmane de Espagne excellait dans de nombreux domaines, allant des sciences à la religion, la métaphysique, la poésie, la musique, l'architecture et les arts, à une époque où des villes comme Cordoue, Séville et Grenade accueillaient et s’enrichissaient des cultures maure, arabe, hispanique, chrétienne et juive dans un esprit d'ouverture et de tolérance.

 

Suite à la reconquête de la péninsule ibérique au XVe siècle, ce patrimoine musical issu d'un âge d'or migre alors vers l'Afrique du Nord où il continue de prospérer et devient même une partie intégrante de l'identité maghrébine.

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Our other Algerian Nuba post:

Mohamed Tahar Fergani – El Khaima & Ya Mesiene Anabi – Sawt El Menyar 1004 here

The photograph below is from Andalucia : Cultura y Diversidad by Rafael López Guzmán and Ignacio Henares Cuéllar, Lunwerg Editores, 2003:

 

Prayer room of the Madrasa of Granada, Spain, built in 1349. Yusuf, the ruler of the Emirate of Granada at the time, founded this Islamic institution to train religious scholars:

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MALAYSIA – NEW GUINEA – INDONESIA – AUSTRALIA – JAPAN – COLOMBIA – BRAZIL – GUYANA – VENEZUELA – PERU – CANADA – BOTSWANA – NAMIBIA – CONGO – TONGA – FIJI – FINLAND The Music of Primitive Man – Horizon – P 11857

MALAYSIA – NEW GUINEA – INDONESIA – AUSTRALIA – JAPAN – COLOMBIA – BRAZIL – GUYANA – VENEZUELA – PERU – CANADA – BOTSWANA – NAMIBIA – CONGO –  TONGA – FIJI – FINLAND 

The Music of Primitive Man – Horizon – P 11857, released 1973 (LP)

The Music of Primitive Man LP published in 1973 presents a well-curated selection of 50 field recordings made in time-honored traditional primal cultures in the Americas (Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela, Peru), Asia (Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia), Oceania (New Guinea, Australia, Tonga, Fiji), Africa (Botswana, Namibia, Congo), and Europe (Finland).

 

This global panorama offers a fascinating immersion into bygone worlds filled with a strong collective identity, sense of purpose, creativity, and a deep connection with nature and the supernatural. The delicate, otherworldly, and abstract sonorities here include singing, imitations of animal sounds, xylophones, a likembe, gongs, flutes, panpipes, whistles, musical bows, lyres, drums, clapping, a didjeridoo, a Jew's-harp, and a bullroarer. 

 

Le disque The Music of Primitive Man publié en 1973 présente une pertinente sélection de 50 enregistrements réalisés dans des cultures primordiales traditionnelles aux Amériques (Canada, Colombie, Brésil, Guyane, Venezuela, Pérou), en Asie (Japon, Malaisie, Indonésie), en Océanie (Nouvelle-Guinée, Australie, Tonga, Fidji), en Afrique (Botswana, Namibie, Congo) et en Europe (Finlande).

 

Ce panorama global propose une immersion fascinante dans des mondes disparus empreints d'un fort sentiment d’identité collective, de raison d’être, de créativité, ainsi qu’un lien profond avec la nature et le surnaturel. Ces sonorités délicates, abstraites, et éthérées incluent des chants, des imitations de sons d'animaux, des xylophones, un likembe, des gongs, diverses flûtes, des sifflets, des instruments à archet, des lyres, des tambours, un didjeridoo, une guimbarde et un rhombe.

SIDE A

 

A1 – “Singing Birds” Folk Song – Ainu people, Japan.

 

A2 – Voice and Likembe – Pygmy Bambuti people, Ituri forest, Congo (Kinshasa).

 

A3 – Chant with Clapstick and Didjeridoo – Guanavidi people, Northern Territory, Australia.

 

A4 – Xylophone Duet – Dusun people, Tumbunan, Malaysia.

 

A5 – Nose Flute Trio – Tonga people, Tonga.

 

A6 – Chief's Song – Guaharibo people, along the Orinoco River, Venezuela or Brazil.

 

A7 – Dance with Bamboo Stampers – Island of Vanua Mbalavu, Fiji.

 

A8 – Jew's-harp Solo – New Guinea.

 

A9 – Lapland Joik Singing – Finland.

 

A10 – Bamboo Flutes – New Guinea.

 

A11 – Eskimo Traveling Song – Northwest Territories, Canada.

 

A12 – Eskimo Dance – Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories, Canada.

 

A13a – Bamboo panpipes – Puinave people, Colombia.

 

A13b – War Song – Cayapo people, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

 

A13c – New Year’s Celebration with Bark Trumpets and Flutes – Piaroa people, Upper Orinoco, Venezuela.

 

A14a – Musical Bow Solo – Motilon people, Colombia

 

A14b – Women’s Chicha Song – Motilon people, Colombia

 

A14c – Lullaby – Motilon people, Colombia

 

A15 – Split-reed whistles to Warn villagers that a Secret Ceremony is About to Begin – Abelam people, Sepik River, New Guinea.

 

A16 – Yam Display Song – Abelam people, Sepik River, New Guinea.

 

A17 – Cassava Grating Song – Akawai people, near the Mazaruni River, Guyana.

 

A18a – Melody on a Kaikara transverse flute – Akawai people, near the Mazaruni River, Guyana.

 

A18b – Sung version of the above melody – Akawai people, near the Mazaruni River, Guyana.

 

A19 – Shaman's Chant – Cuna people, Colombia.

 

A20 – Puberty Fiesta, the men of the tribe dance to the accompaniment of a long kili cane panpipe – Cuna people, Colombia.

 

A21 – Worksong With Singing and Whistling – Motilon people, Colombia.

 

A22 – Gongs – Dusun people, Tumbunan, Malaysia

 

A23 – Kalahari Love Song With a Vibran four-string Lyre – San people, Kalahari, Bostwana or Namibia.

 

SIDE B

 

B1 – Bajau Laut Trance Dance With Voices and Gongs – Bajau people, North Borneo, Indonesia or Malaysia.

 

B2 – Female Singer and 17-key Gambang Xylophone – Bajau people, North Borneo, Indonesia or Malaysia.

 

B3 – Elders’ voices with panpipe and drum accompaniment – Makuna people, Colombia.

 

B4 – Male Voices with Guitar and Split-reed whistle – Tonga.

 

B5 – Three-string Gambus Duet – Dayak people, Indonesia.

 

B6 – Men's Dance With Gongs and Drums – Dayak people, Indonesia.

 

B7 – Prayer Song – Ainu people, Japan.

 

B8 – War Dance accompanied by cane panpipes and hand clapping – Tatuya people, Colombia.

 

B9 – Blooding Ceremony – Chanting accompanied by a bull-roarer – Walbiri people, Northern Territory, Australia.

 

B10 – Musical Bow Solo – San people, Khalahari, Bostwana or Namibia.

 

B11 – Puberty Celebration with male chant accompanied by two flutes and maracas – Cuna people, Colombia.

 

B12 – Dance Performed by Men and Women With bamboo clapsticks, stamping, and male chanting – Island of Vanua Mbalavu, Fiji.

 

B13 – Bamboo Xylophones Orchestra – Dusun people, Tumbunan, Malaysia.

 

B14 – Panpipes and Drums – Jebero people, between the Maranon and Huallaga rivers, Peru.

 

B15 – Flutes and Maracas – Kogi people, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, Colombia.

 

B16 – Singing accompanied by drums and a split-reed whistle – Noanama people, Lower San Juan River, Colombia.

 

B17a – Tune for a pipe and a three-stringed bamboo kerantin – Semelai people, Malaysia.

 

B17b – Women produce rhythmic patterns by splashing their hands on top of the water. – Semelai people, Malaysia.

 

B18 – Nose Flute Solo – Dusun people, Tumbunan, Malaysia

 

B19 – Stringed Dusun Sundatang Solo – Dusun people, Tumbunan, Malaysia

 

B20 – Magic Ceremony with tribal holy man accompanied by brass-bowl percussion, a stringed instrument and drum – Manteri people, southwest coast of the Malay Peninsula, Malaysia.

 

B21 – Dancing and Chanting performed for chiefs – Lau Islands, Fiji.

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Photographs below are from Vanished Civilizations: Forgotten People of the Ancient World by Henri Lhote, Thames and Hudson, 1967; Saudades do Brasil: A Photographic Memory by Claude Lévi-Strauss, University of Washington Press, 1995; a vintage postcard; and Masques Eskimo d'Alaska by Jean-Loup Rousselot, Bernard Abel, José Pierre, and Catherine Bihl,  Danièle Amez, 1991:

Ainu elders, northern Japan:

Painted Caduveo (or Kadiweu) lady, Brazil, 1935:

Dayak Warriors, Borneo, Indonesia:

Half-man, half-fox Eskimo Ichzit mask, Nunivak Island, Alaska, United-States:

Eskimo Isanuk Walrus-Spirit mask, Napaskiak near Kuskokwim, Alaska, United-States:

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INDIA – INDE Kumar Gandharva – Hindustani Classical – His Master's Voice – ECLP 2360

INDIA – INDE
Kumar Gandharva – Hindustani Classical – His Master's Voice – ECLP 2360, released 1968 (LP)

The legendary Kumar Gandharva, born Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath (1924 - 1992), hailed from a musical family in Sulebhavi, Karnataka, in southwestern India. As a young child his prodigious musical gifts inspired his nickname "Gandharva," after mythical celestial beings known for their divine singing. His celebrated 1935 performance at the prestigious All India Music Conference, at the age of 11, assured his reputation, and the eminent Khyal singer and musicologist B.R. Deodhar (1901-1990) accepted him as his disciple.

Gandharva’s steady trajectory to greatness and his complete mastery of his art was cut brutally short by a severe case of tuberculosis contracted in 1947. His doctors said he would never sing again. He moved to the dryer northern climate of Dewas in Madhya Pradesh to rest, but when a new drug became available he gradually recovered and began performing again in 1953 despite having to adapt to singing with a single lung.  

 

The singer's six-year hiatus, spent intensely listening to the sounds of nature, itinerant folk singers and Bhakti devotional songs, proved to be a pivotal moment of transformation and a metaphysical awakening.  

 

With his unique high-pitched voice and short, dynamic melodious flights, Gandharva innovated and freed himself from convention, combining several gharana traditions, while delving into India’s past to reconnect with the devotional and transcendental spirit in the folk music of old, which he fully expressed in passionate renderings of bajhans by the 15th-century poet-saint Kabir Das. This true original, venerated to this day, is a treasure of Indian culture.

   

This outstanding 1968 release features Gandharva’s soft, lyrical and inventive musings with harmonium player P. Madhukar (1916-1967) and Gandharva’s longtime tabla accompanist Vasant Acharekar.  

Le légendaire Kumar Gandharva, né Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath (1924 - 1992), est issu d'une famille musicale de Sulebhavi, Karnataka, dans le sud-ouest de l'Inde. Les prodigieux dons musicaux du jeune garçon ont amené sa famille à l'appeler Gandharva – nom donné à des entités célestes réputées pour leur chant divin. Il acquiert une renommée à l’échelle nationale à l'age de 11 ans suite à son récital à la prestigieuse All India Music Conference de 1935 et l'éminent chanteur de Khyal et musicologue B.R. Deodhar (1901-1990) le prendra comme disciple peu après.

 

La trajectoire ascendante de Kumar Gandharva et sa maîtrise de son art sont brutalement interrompues par un cas grave de tuberculose contracté en 1947. Ses médecins lui annoncent qu'il ne chantera plus jamais et il part vivre dans le climat plus sec au nord à Dewas dans le Madhya Pradesh pour se reposer. Suite à la disponibilité d'un nouveau médicament, il se rétabli progressivement et se produit de nouveaux à partir de 1953 malgré le fait qu'il doit maintenant apprendre à chanter avec un seul poumon.

 

Cette période d’arrêt total de six ans – pendant laquelle Gandharva écoute intensément les sons de la nature, des chanteurs folkloriques itinérants et des chants dévotionnels Bhakti proposés par son environnement – se révéla être pour lui un moment charnière de transformation et d'éveil métaphysique.

 

Avec sa voix aiguë inimitable et ses courtes envolées dynamiques et mélodieuses, Ghandarva innova et s'affranchit des conventions en combinant plusieurs traditions gharanas tout en regardant vers le passé de l'Inde pour renouer avec l'esprit dévotionnel et transcendantal de la musique folklorique d'antan – qu'il exprima magnifiquement notamment dans ses interprétations de bajhans passionnés du poète-saint du XVe siècle Kabir Das. Cet artiste iconoclaste est un véritable trésor de la culture indienne.

 

Ce précieux album de 1968 présente les envolées douces, lyriques et inventives du maître accompagné de P. Madhukar (1916-1967) à l’harmonium et de Vasant Acharekar aux tablas.

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The photographs below are from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s online collection database https://philamuseum.org/collections/search.html

Sun (Lord Surya), copper, Rajasthan, 18th-19th century:

Tantric Painting of Garuda, opaque watercolor and gold on paper, Gujarat, 19th century:

“Garuda, the mythical bird depicted here, is the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. Images of various goddesses appear on his human torso, bird legs, and wings. This painting may have been part of a set relating to the Hindu religious tradition known as Tantra. It would have been used to support meditation by tantric practitioners seeking to attain superior knowledge of the divine through secret magical practices.”

Kantha (Embroidered Quilt), Bengali (Bangladesh or India), late 19th-early 20th century:

“The maker of this kantha gloried in depicting modern life. In the upper right, a woman stands within a grand residence detailed with gas sconces and arched louvers. In the upper left, she or another woman sits surrounded by mostly aquatic creatures in a square representing a ghat (stepped riverbank platform). In the lower section appear two steam-driven vehicles-a train and a peacock-prowed pleasure boat (the latter usually propelled by oars). At bottom, an elaborate market scene includes a merchant who weighs a woman's purchases on a scale. In contrast to the usual sari draped over the head, the women here wear long-sleeved blouses, separate head-coverings, and long necklaces that resemble the outfits seen in the hill region of northern Bengal.”

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curation project and share the best finds with you on this blog: