Yesterday I stumbled home late after a good night at the Sattelit Café in Paris. The music was the usual good mix of African/South American/Middle Eastern. An ecclectic mix of rai, mbalax, salsa, gnawa and coupé décalé still rings a bit in my ears.

In the spirit of this mix of musical styles while at the same time sticking to my recent North Africa kick, let’s listen to some Abdeljalil Kodssi.

Originally the “best barber in town”, Marrakech native Kodssi starting devoting himself to music in the late 70s. His career slowly developed over the twenty years, first touring Spain in the mid 80s then eventually broke into the French market a couple years ago with his solo album, Mimoun.

The root of most of Kodssi’s music is obviously a Moroccan Gnawa style but he mixes in rock, West African pop and some flamenco. I think the organ he often uses on Mimoun sounds perfect over the North African rhythms and strumming.

Crisp, sunny Paris Sunday. Big coffee. Good music. Bliss.

Abdeljalil Kodssi - Bechokek
Abdeljalil Kodssi - Hada Rayeh

Lately I’ve really been into Nuru Kane’s latest album, Sigil. My father sent it to me a few weeks ago after reading a bunch of good reviews. As I’ve been really busy lately it’s great that others have picked-up the crate digging slack for me.

I absolutely love both of today’s tracks. The first one reminds me of whipping through Parisian streets late at night on my bike, on my way to some African music concert in a shady bar. The second has been stuck in my head for a while.. always puts me in a good mood when I blast it down my earphones on the walk from the metro to my desk. When that accordian kicks in.. shivers.

Nuru Kane grew-up in the Medina, the main “quartier populaire” in central Dakar. He mixes Moroccan Gnawa which he plays with the three-stringed, bass-lute hybrid instrument, the guimbri, with his native Senegalese styles, plus some splashes from the West. The band he plays with, Bayefall Gnawa, pretty much sums this all up in their name. The lyrics are in Wolof which means I get a kick out of partial comprehension.

Kane is playing in Paris on the 17th. Unfortunately I’m not in town but I heavily encourage any fellow Parisians to check it out.

Nuru Kane - Niane
Nuru Kane - Diarama

So it’s been a month since my last post. I’m back, I’m still here, the music keeps piling up.

Last weekend I got a bunch of my friends to join in a trip up to Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb northeast of Paris, to see a Moroccan gnawa concert by Hmida Boussou. As many of you already know, Clichy-sous-Bois was the original flashpoint for the recent riot troubles in France. The point of the trip was then two-fold: to check-out this place so badly portrayed in the media as a centre of racial hatred and burning cars, and to listen to some great live gnawa music from down in Essaouira.

As expected, Clichy-sous-Bois’ downtown turned out to be a quiet little French town much like any other Parisian suburb. That said, we weren’t in the middle of the cités but as one Clichy-sous-Bois resident put it, “this isn’t Chechnya.” It’s actually a nice little place that’s a pain in the ass to access using public transport at night. The Boussou concert was part of the ongoing Afrocolor festival in the suburbs of Paris. I’ve been busy with work, life and travel so I haven’t been able to check-out any of the other shows, but the programme is impressive and the festival is quite well-organized.

The Gnawa are a sufi Islamic brotherhood from southern Morocco (around Marrakesh and Essaouira) who use music, rhythm and dance to heal and entrance their followers. Gnawa music has become sort of trendy in Western culture this last while which is why I ask myself, isn’t track 5 on the Cowboy Bebop sountrack a gnawa song? Does anyone know anything about it? Song posted below.

Anyway, the Hmida Boussou concert was great. He’s a well-known Gnawa musician back home and if my armchair Google research is any indication he commands a far-reaching and good reputation. At the show everyone was rockin’ out to the rhythms and an entranced fan or two even hit a trance and dropped to their knees on stage. Definitely worth the RER. I picked-up his CD called Les Fils de Bambara on the way out - don’t think you can buy it in stores.

Hmida Boussou - Les Fils de Bambara
Seatbelts - Musawe

In case you haven’t noticed I’ve been really busy lately and have been slacking a bit on the posts. Benn loxo is going to continue indefinitely, but the reason why it’s stalled a bit lately is part travel, part work and mostly because I’m moving to Paris in the Spring. Don’t worry - I’ll keep posting during and after the Parisian relocation. In fact, at my new job at AP Paris I’ll still be working closely with our West Africa office and will be responsible for some stuff in North Africa.

It’s ironic, but there’s arguably a better pan-African music scene in Paris than in Dakar. I’ll definitely have more access to great African music there, too. Regardless, in honour of this move we’re going to listen to some music by some French North Africans based in South-East France, Gnawa Diffusion.

We haven’t touched North Africa much on this site. I think when I move to France I’ll start focusing more on the north side of the Sahara, but for now we’ll stick to the Sahel and all that’s sub. Today’s an exception - pop the champagne, I gotta new job.

Gnawa Diffusion’s style varies from rap to reggae to raï and they sing in Arabic, French and English. Most of the lyrics and music are put together by the group’s front-man, Amezigh Kateb. They often sing/rap about the plight of North African immigrants in France, but they also produce such weighty tracks as Je Suis Un Fauteuil. Either way, I like what I hear. I have much to learn about the music from my neighbours to the north.

The track I’m posting today is off a bootleg bought in Morocco (right, Jake? and thanks for the CD, by the way) so please correct me if the track title is incorrect. Not sure what album name is, either. I think it’s one of those street “best ofs”, but whatever. There are some solid tracks and the following is definitely worth posting. Buy some here.

Gnawa Diffusion - Sabrina