Tony Langlois is no stranger to Fez. He first visited in 1994 and has spent the last 16 years researching the music of the Maghreb. Lumen caught up with him on this flying visit.
As an ethnomusicologist at University College, Cork in Ireland, Tony's focus is looking at the culture of music from the inside. He lived in Oujda for 8 months and before that in Oran in Algeria for a similar amount of time, and spent six months with an Andalous orchestra. He's researched this traditional style of music in the Moroccan/Algerian border area, including that of the A'issawa and Gnawa. He says that new types of music emerge all the time and he especially enjoys looking at the social life around music and culture. 'I've been going to Oujda for so many years now, that I've watched my friends' children grow up', he says.
Regadda is the new form of popular music from the Berkane and Oujda region and it's close to the traditional tribal music of the area: Mokhtar el Berkani is the most well-known exponent. This is the focus of Tony's current research, along with the Jewish music of western Algeria. For this, he visits the emigree musicians who now live in Marseille.
Tony studied Moroccan Arabic at the Arabic Language Institute in Fez some four years ago, which of course helps him in his work and gave him lots of friends in Fez. He's also attended the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music as he's interested in festivals and their cultural influence. He's in Fez this time to catch up with friends and keep an eye on the many pop VCDs that are so widely available in Fez and of special interest to him. He admits to still getting lost in the medina.
In Cork, Tony teaches a course on Arab music, particularly that of North Africa, as well as other forms such as Cuban. He teaches his students to play the music too, using banjos, mandolins, violins, percussion and even accordions. In his spare time, Tony plays stringed instruments and has a particular passion for composing electronic music. He's a member of the group Mission Creep.
Tony can be found at http://tonylanglois.wordpress.com
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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