ALGERIA – ALGÉRIE
Ahmed Khelifi خليفي أحمد – Ida Hab Allah - Bnate El Bahja – El Feth 6738 (Vinyl 7 inch, 45 RPM)
The iconic singer Ahmed Khelifi (خليفي أحمد) (1921-2012), born Ahmed Al-Abbas Benaissa in Sidi Khaled, near Biskra, Algeria, was a master of Algerian Bedouin songs and popularized the traditional Aiyai style—also called Saharan music. This traditional musical genre from south-central Algeria mixes music and Melhoun poetry, an art form central to Algerian culture and identity, encompassing a range of themes: love, religious devotion, nostalgia, epic stories, history, social commentary, etc.
Khelifi studied at the Koranic school and sang in the religious choir of the Rahmania Brotherhood. His maternal uncle, El Hadj Ben Khelifa, a renowned meddah (public storyteller or bard) in the Saharan tradition, encouraged him to sing traditional Saharan songs. In 1947, Boudali Safir, the artistic director of Radio Alger, asked the talented young man to lead the Bedouin orchestra he had created. By the 1950s, Khelifi had achieved national fame and was later celebrated throughout the Arab world and the large Algerian diaspora in France, where he performed numerous concerts.
With his powerful, shimmering voice and spellbinding melodies, Khelifi came to dominate Aiyai music for nearly half a century. On this poetic, mellifluous album, he is accompanied by two gasba flutes and a bendir drum.
Le chanteur emblématique Khelifi Ahmed (خليفي أحمد) (1921-2012), né Ahmed Al-Abbas Benaissa à Sidi Khaled, près de Biskra, en Algérie, était un maître de la chanson bédouine algérienne qui popularisa le style traditionnel aiyai, également appelé musique saharienne. Ce genre musical traditionnel du centre-sud de l'Algérie associe la musique et la poésie Melhoun, un art au cœur de la culture et de l'identité algérienne, qui aborde un large éventail de thèmes, notamment l'amour, la dévotion religieuse, la nostalgie, les épopées, l'histoire et la critique sociale.
Ahmed Khelifi étudia dans une école coranique et chanta dans la chorale religieuse de la confrérie Rahmania. Son oncle maternel, El Hadj Ben Khelifa, un meddah (conteur public) renommé dans le genre saharien, l'encourage à chanter des chansons traditionnelles sahariennes. En 1947, Boudali Safir, directeur artistique de Radio Alger, demande au jeune homme talentueux de diriger l'orchestre bédouin qu'il venait de créer. Dès les années 1950, Khelifi acquiert une notoriété nationale et fut ensuite célébré dans le monde arabe et par la diaspora algérienne en France, où il donne de nombreux concerts.
Avec sa voix puissante et chatoyante et ses mélodies envoûtantes, Ahmed Khelifi incarna le genre aiyai pendant près d'un demi-siècle. Sur cet album poétique et mélodieux, il est accompagné de deux flûtes gasba et d'un tambour bendir.
In a spirit of collaboration and sharing with Hakim, we have to date collected and recorded a quality selection of about 400 Moroccan and Maghrebi 7-inch records on about 30 different labels. Our goal is to gradually map out this vast, forgotten recorded heritage thanks mainly to Hakim in Marrakech who finds good copies of many rare 45 RPMs. These recordings are constantly being added to Hakim’s popular Youtube channel*, and I’ll continue to share some of our great finds with you on this blog.
*Hakim’s Amal Records Youtube channel l La chaîne Youtube d’Hakim here
Our other Algerian music posts:
Cheikha Rimitti – Nabil-Phone NBP 35421 here
Mohamed Tahar Fergani – El Khaima & Ya Mesiene Anabi – Sawt El Menyar 1004 hereMohamed Khaznadji Musique Classique Algérienne – Noubat Ed Dhil – Les Artistes Arabes Associés 72830 here
Dahmane Ben Achour – Noubat Edd'il & Noubat Elhsine – Les Artistes Arabes Associés 72503 here
Young Ouled Naïl woman from the region located between Biskra,
Laghouat, El Oued and Ghardaïa, Algeria, c. 1905:
Please help me purchase important traditional records
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Thanks Thomas♥️
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated!
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