THE CONCERT
11 pm
The 2012 Casablanca Malhun Festival kicked off at 11 pm with a venue packed with local families. It was a beautiful evening with pleasant temperature and a gorgeous venue. The event continued over two days and, although it was a malhun festival, it included a number of other types of music. It opened with Sufi music from performers of Ahl Touat, then we took the stage for the first of two nights of malhun poetry and songs.
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| Not your standard MC - she was greeted warmly by the crowd |
Malhun - great music
We were invited to share the stage with a malhun ensemble composed of musicians from across Morocco. Salé, Rabat, Oujda, Fez, and Meknes were all well represented as we gathered together to perform. Malhun, a form of sung poetry, is an old and purely Moroccan form of popular music. The songs are comprised of texts that straddle the line between Moroccan and classical registers of Arabic and can extend to 20 or 30 minutes. The backing music is not too complex, but is heavily ornamented and allows for space for people like Fouad (Philip Murphy) and Driss (Chris Witulski) to find a sweet spot.
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| Hamid el-Qasri playing the gimbri |
Gnawa
We were followed by Hamid el-Qasri, the famous Gnawa fusion artist. We had heard him on the radio in the bus on the way to Casablanca, only to meet him that same evening. Illa anta fil-maghreb, f-la tistaghreb ("If you're in Morocco, never be astonished").
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| Members of Hamid el-Qasri's Gnawa group |
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| Driss (Chris Witulski) from The View from Fez with his trademark smile! |
One of the great things about a traditional music concert in Morocco, is the attention given to wearing the perfect outfit. Visually it beats the hell out of t-shirt and jeans.
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| Meryem Chadi, the talented young violinist from Salé |
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| Faiçel Doukkali and Majdouline Benserhir with their ouds |
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| The brilliant Algerian Rachid Toumi |
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| Abd al-Wahid, playing the "hadida," an iron blade from a hoe, and Rashid |
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Hamid el-Qasri playing the gimbri (left) and one of his group members,
on the quraqeb (iron castanets) performing Gnawa music |
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| Faiçel Doukkali and Majdouline Benserhir with their ouds |
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| One of our Fessi Hamdoushi musicians playing the ta'rija |
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| Abd al-Latif and his darbouka |
The singers
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| Abd ar-Rahim Amrani, the artistic director of the festival and leader of the Hamadsha of Fes |
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| Sara Dhanna |
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| Senae Shafira on her debut public performance |
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| Mohamed al-Hashmi, from Algeria |
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| the formidable Hakima Tariq - a crowd favourite |
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| The mutual fan club of Philip Murphy, Majdouline Benserhir, and Chris Witulski |
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| Sharqawi, Amrani, and Sara |
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| The group that brought us so much joy |
12 30 am
The Concert finished and after the farewells it was off to change clothes and prepare for dinner which was to be served at 1.30am. What we didn't know then was that the party would continue until after 5am... and the second concert still lay ahead.
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