The Faugloire Benjamin Project - Jazz in Fez

The Faugloire Benjamin project is a jazz trio composed of three musicians from Marseille: Benjamin Faugloire (piano and composition), Denis Frangulian (double bass) and Jérôme Mouriez (drums). The concert is a project of the French Institute in Fez

If there are musicians for whom music has no other end than itself, there are others for whom it is necessarily the echo of oneself. The pianist Benjamin Faugloire certainly belongs to the second category.

As an architect of his music, committed to preserving spontaneity within written forms, Benjamin Faugloire develops the emotion of a story, finding in an acoustic instrumentation an energy that comes from rock and reminiscences of the best pop.

"Anchoring his band in this contemporary geography of the jazz trio that has grown considerably in recent years and sees the music in panoramic, it scrolls contrasted landscapes, while weaving a narrative thread inscribed in the heart of music, which makes 'chain the chapters with fluidity, without excluding contemplative beaches."

"Birth", their last album, recorded with the trio who have accompanied him for more than a decade, is conceived as a a succession of titles that follow each other like the happiness and accidents of life, a reflection of a personal trajectory that passes through its ups and downs, its expectations and its inspirations, its distress and rebirth. Without ever ceasing to advance.

Wednesday 4 October at 19:00 - 20:00

Ryad Dar Batha

30000 Old Fes, Fès, Morocco

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Fez and Florence - Twin Cities?

A move towards a twin city partnership between Florence and Fez is a step closer

According to L'Economiste, Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence (Italy), arrived this Wednesday in Fez. Accompanied by a delegation of businessmen, the 42-year-old was received by Driss El Azami El Idrissi, the mayor of the Moroccan spiritual and cultural capital.

The ambition of the two men is to reactivate the twinning between the two cities, first signed in 1961 under the leadership of King Hassan II.

"The aim of Dario Nardella is to make operational a decentralised cooperation," confides Abdelkrim El Meliani, honorary consul of Italy in Fez. According to him, "the mayor of Florence is interested in cooperation in the fields of culture and investment".

A workshop is scheduled tomorrow today (Thursday) between the heads of Chambers of Commerce of Fez and Florence. This will bring the visions of the economic operators of the two cities closer together. Meanwhile, the University of Florence is already a partner of the Euromed University of Fez.

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Is The Party Over For The Marrakech Biennale?

The Marrakech, initially scheduled in February 2018, has been postponed indefinitely Meanwhile, the brilliant critic of Cameroonian art, Christine Eyene, has been appointed curator of the next edition of the Biennale of Casablanca, scheduled for October 2018

The Marrakech Biennale has run into problems over funding and its image as a "party event", an image that has upset many locals.

"There is no money," says Amine Kabbaj, executive chairman of the event. I have written twice to His Majesty, I do not know how to awaken people to the highest level. Culture is not the priority of this government. "

Founded 13 years ago by Britain's Vanessa Branson (sister of Richard Branson, patron of Virgin group), the event managed to raise 900,000 euros from Moroccan sponsors in 2016. The edition led by Palestinian exhibition commissioner Reem Fadda was high quality and had a record attendance of 100,000 visitors. The choice of the excellent Moroccan exhibition curator Mouna Mekouar to orchestrate the next edition presaged the best.

But today is the time of the accounts. And, for the first time, the Biennale has a deficit of about 300,000 euros. Worse, it alienated the local community. "It is a biennial that has been made for foreigners and not for Moroccans," says Yasmina Naji, director of the gallery and Kulte Art Centre in Rabat. "Much money was spent in festive events, private parties, and very little on the production of works. The Biennale was poorly managed."

The cancellation is a blow to the contemporary art fair 1:54, which had voluntarily grafted on its calendar to organise its first edition in Marrakech. "I am sad that the Biennale is rejected, but I am convinced that it is only partly handed over," says Touria El-Glaoui, its director. "It seems all the more essential to launch 1:54 Marrakech and to offer an international exhibition of quality to the Moroccan public."

1:54 is a leading African art fair and after a successful third edition in New York in May 2017, the fair will return for its fifth London edition from the 5-8th October 2017.

Amine Kabbaj said she wanted to try everything for the end of November, with the organisation by the Moroccan Art Works Company (CMOOA), in a large hotel in Marrakech, of a charity sale of works donated by the artists. " It's not serious, now ask artists to fund the Biennale!"  says Yasmina Naji. "In any case, a biennale does not come up in a few months. Finally, we must understand the necessity of placing cultural management professionals at the head of this event."

Meanwhile in Casablanca...

Mostapha Romli, the founding president of the International Biennial of Casablanca, has named Christine Eyene the artistic director of the exhibition’s fourth edition, which will kick off in October 2018.

Founded in 2012, the biennial aims to create dialogue between Moroccan and African artists and the international art scene.

Christine Eyene

Eyene is a research fellow in contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire, where she works on “Making Histories Visible,” an interdisciplinary visual arts research project led by artist and professor Lubaina Himid. She is also the cofounder of YaPhoto, a photography platform based in Yaounde, Cameroon. More recently, she organised the touring exhibition “Sounds Like Her,” which showcases women’s practices in music and sound art, opening at New Art Exchange in Nottingham in October 2017.

“It is in Morocco that I took my first steps in contemporary art many years ago,” Eyene said. “I am delighted at the opportunity to develop a large-scale project bridging Morocco and Africa with diverse international art contexts.”

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"General Rest In Peace" in Concert in Fez!

General Rest in Peace (GRIP) is an alternative Rock / Indie Rock band founded by two cousins, Talal and Ayoub, later joined in 2013 by Safouane and Samir

The musical universe of the group is marked by common influences: Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Royal Blood, Radiohead, Muse, The Clash and Highly Suspect.

Regularly in concert in Morocco, notably in Casablanca and Rabat, GRIP performed acoustically on one of the stages of Sziget Festival in 2014 in Budapest.

In April 2017 the band released their full-length debut album, with a more raw Hard Rock style. The musical universe in which this first album is written is nourished by eclectic influences, from metal to pop and R & B, to stoner rock, but mostly Indie / Alternative Rock.

Through the 11 tracks, GRIP manages to create a dark and romantic atmosphere, with poetic metaphors and reflections on life, death and love.

This concert, organised by the ALC-ALIF Music Club, is free and open to the general public.

"General Rest In Peace" in Concert! Acoustic & Rock Music

Saturday Sept. 30 at 7 PM, ALC-Fez Garden, 2 Rue Ahmed Hiba

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Ashura is Coming!

No one in Fez can have failed to notice an increasing number of loud bangs from fireworks. However, it is little cause for alarm, merely a sign that Ashura is coming. Ashura, known also as the day of Zamzam, is celebrated on the tenth day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar, just a month after Eid Al Adha

The day of Ashura is full of surprises!

The day is a religious celebration for both Shia’ and Sunni Muslims, the way Moroccans celebrate Ashura is unique and very different from the rest of the Arab and Islamic countries.

While Shiites commemorate the death of al-Hussein ibn Ali, son of the Prophet Mohammed's cousin, in Karbala, Sunnis commemorate the day God liberated Moses and his people from Egypt and its menacing Pharaoh.

The Moroccan custom of celebrating Ashura is believed to originate from the practices adopted by Moroccan Jews before they moved to the Middle East. The ritual of water splashing is said to date back to early rituals of Judaism. Moroccan Jews maintained it for centuries, as they believe that water was a reason for the survival of the prophet Moses in the face of oppression by Pharaoh and his soldiers.

Jews believe that water becomes sacred during the days of Ashura. For them, it is a symbol of life and prosperity. In some historical writings, Jews celebrate water, and their kids splash each other with water during the whole day, while adults sprinkle their property and possessions, in the hope that God will bless them.

Sunna also places importance on the survival of the Prophet Moses by calling upon Muslims to celebrate it by fasting on the ninth day of the month of Muharram in addition to the day of Ashura on the tenth, in contrast to the Jews who fast only on the tenth day.

Moroccans start celebrating Ashura the night before by setting tree branches on fire and roaming the streets with the torches while repeating chants related to the occasion. Sometimes Moroccans light a fire in the yards of their houses and start jumping over it.

This ritual is called “Sh'ala (Arabic: الشعالة‎‎),” meaning “flames,” and is mainly practiced in working class districts and desert areas.

The following day, Moroccan youths throw water at their friends and neighbours as a gesture of intimacy that is said to have started with women’s bathing in cold water on Ashura morning, a ritual believed to bring prosperity for the coming year.

In the desert areas, residents wake up before sunrise and start sprinkling water on everything they own that is related to the land like the fields, crops, agricultural equipment and cattle.

Due to the strong connection between Ashura and water, said to be related to the parting of the sea by Moses, the day came to be called Zamzam day, in reference to the holy water of Zamzam well in Mecca.

In the last two or three decades, the celebration of Ashura has been evolving in Morocco. In the past, people in the south east of Morocco celebrated it with great enthusiasm, as every tribe slaughtered a bull or a cow on the eve of the day of Ashura. Each tribe invites another to join in the customary practice of splashing buckets of water on each other throughout the day.

Nowadays the celebration is different, as it has become risky to splash of water on people with mobile phones as they are normally less than impressed!.

Some of the traditional Ashura rituals continue nowadays. In urban cities, for example, parents buy taàrijas (Moroccan drums) for their children. The children of each neighbourhood get together early in the morning and start playing their taàrijas as they parade around the streets.

In a ritual is called Heq baba Achour children knock at every door asking for dry fruit, cakes, or even money. Once they have collected a few pennies, they buy eggs and throw them at their friends. Recently they also have started to throw firecrackers.

Adults invite their relatives and have a meal together featuring, mainly, Fakiah, a plate of dry fruits, dates, and sweets. Some Sunnis also fast for two days on the ninth and tenth days of the month of Muharram. People also give alms and make contributions to charity for orphaned kids and poor people.

Have fun during Ashura - but watch out for fireworks and buckets of water! 

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Marrakech Launches Electric Buses

From Thursday (28th of September) Marrakech is putting electric busses into service

This project was announced on the occasion of the COP22 summit, organised in November 2016 in Marrakech.

Morocco ordered 30 electric buses from the Chinese operator Yangtse and the Spanish company, Alsa, won the tender to operate the buses.

After their commissioning, these new buses will serve the first line, crossing Hassan II Boulevard, linking Bab Doukalla to the Al Massira district and its surroundings, as well as the second line connecting the M'Hamid districts and the city centre via the corridor reserved for at the boulevard "Guemassa".

Other boulevards and districts will be included later using the same mode of operation as the tram lines in Rabat and Casablanca, with the provision of easy access points for people with special needs.

In order to guarantee the supply of electricity to these buses, a solar power station was set up in partnership with the World Bank at the entrance to the city, adjacent to the urban perimeter in the constituency of Menara, and the beginning of the municipality of Saâda.

These 18-meter long tram-buses will have to transport more than 45,000 citizens every day to different parts of the ocher city.

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Jazz in the Chellah - 22nd Edition

Rabat's, Jazz au Chellah, is back from the 28th of September to October 1st, bringing together European jazzmen and Moroccan musicians from diverse backgrounds, in a magical setting

During this 22nd edition, artists from Austria and Spain will open the festival on Thursday the 28th of September with Vicens Martín Dream Big Band, followed by Shake Stew, an Austrian group of seven musicians. The group will be joined by Nabyla Maan, for an unforgettable encounter that should set the tone for this event.

The second day, Denmark and the BeNeLux countries will be represented by two unique musical experiences. In the early evening, Mathias Heise Quadrillon will perform with his FuRo Jazz, a fusion jazz of Rock and Funk. In the second part of the evening, Dock In Absolute, a Belgian-Luxemburg trio, will push the limits of jazz with a new progressive approach presented by a trio of virtuosos. Their piano, their percussions and their bass will be enriched by the saxophone of the talented Axel Camil and the Moroccan percussions of Mohamed Amine Bliha, for a Moroccan-European fusion.

Dalindeo - the Helsinki based Finnish group

The third evening will be dedicated to the extremities of Europe. Dalindeo, a Finnish jazz group, described as "a delirious mix of surf punk, hot jazz, Finnish tango with a touch of Ennio Morricone", will create a psychedelic journey carried by its six talented musicians. Finland will then give the stage to a Portuguese trio Maria João,  in a surprising marriage between traditional Portuguese music and electronic music, with an encounter with the talent of Moroccan multi-instrumentalist M'hamed El Menjra.

The closing Sunday, October 1st,  is a true epic throughout the world, a whirlwind of the senses from Germany to Egypt. Gregory Gaynair Trio will bring a resolutely human and brilliant touch to modern jazz followed by the Egyptian group Eftekasat, offering an oriental, enchanting and engaging jazz, integrating Balkan, African and Latin influences. The last meeting promises sparks with the Tagnaouite influence of the guembri of Asmaa Hamzaoui & Bnatt Timbouktou. A merger between Morocco, Europe and the Afro-Mediterranean space that will mark this end of edition.

Also on the sidelines of this cultural event are Masterclasses, 4 free concerts at the Bab Mrissa stage in Salé, as well as other surprises.

Since its creation in 1996, Jazz au Chellah has presented to the public a living showcase of jazz from the European Union. These unique concerts are not limited to the festival, but sometimes give rise to musical projects and new musical collaborations between the artists.

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From Smart Phones to Short Films

Students at the American Language Center in Fez have moved from watching movies to also making them. Suzanna Clarke reports

On Saturday September 23, a premiere was held at the ALC, showing four short films made by students using their smart phones. Three were dramas, and one was a comedy.

“I want you to make your own movies,” said teacher Jamal Morelli. “There are four horror films being made, so I encourage you to get involved.”

With mainstream directors like Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) regularly using an iPhone to shoot his films and video clips, and film festivals such as Sundance showcasing films like Tangerine, shot entirely on phones, the democratisation of film-making is now a reality. With a knowledge of basic film technique, judicious editing and new apps, as well as vision and determination, the art form is within the realm of anyone with a smartphone.

The results of yesterday’s ALC Film Premiere were mixed - but what the students lacked in professionalism they made up for with enthusiasm.

Directed by Simo Ouzzani, the short film Beneath the Black Veil was preceded by a lively discussion among the students on the nature of terrorism. The film followed a personal journey into the motivations of a female suicide bomber.

Other films included The Janitor, about a young man who is forced to take on paid work to support his family, but who still succeeds in pursuing his dream of an education; a film about the process of making a film, Room 6, and Me and I, a contemporary Moroccan comedy which used slapstick and other classic comic traditions to the great enjoyment of the audience.

Amine Wali Alami worked on Me and I. "With this project I did about forty per cent of the direction, thirty per cent of the script writing and all the editing. I got lots of experience, especially in editing and shooting. I learned tricks about transitions, sound, team work and shooting conditions. It was absolutely amazing and fun. Would I try it again? Hell yeah!"

Amine and his team are planning a sequel to Me and I. He is also working on a horror movie and a documentary about heavy metal music in Morocco.

Between the films were brief performances by students - two sang, one did a skilful vocal percussion number, producing up to seven sounds simultaneously using only his mouth, another did a couple of Hip Hop dances, and one young man, Oussama Hasni, gave an edgy standup comedy performance.

Oussama Hasni delivers the comic touch 

The Film Premiere was reminiscent of the early days of films, when silent movies and variety shows were seen by the same audience.

The students were clearly engaged and motivated; keen to develop their filmmaking and English speaking skills. And despite being a little rough around the edges, there was real talent in the room.

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Shisha Crackdown in Meknes

The Mayor of Meknes has made a bold move in his struggle against the growth of  hookah cafes which have sprung up around the city. For now, tourists may find it difficult to find a venue for enjoying shisha.

In the latest raids 100 shisha cafes have been ordered to close their doors until further notice. Crowds of local people were astonished to see, not only the closing of their favourite cafes, but also  the arrest of many customers, managers and waiters.

The businesses targeted were all located in the city centre in the busy area of ​​Al Hamria. Other areas of the city have been told to expect similar raids as officials want to eradicate the shisha industry in Meknes.

Other cities in the country may be less keen to follow the example of Meknes as the smoking of shisha is popular with tourists. However, Meknes authorities are resolute in their drive to wipe out shisha as they believe it exposes adolescents to crime and prostitution and to a significant and dangerous trend of out-of-school education.

Tourism operators are not concerned and offer the shisha experience to their clients. Many tourist websites claim shisha is part of the experience of Morocco. Some have guides to the etiquette of shisha smoking.

"When visiting another country, engaging in some of the more unique local practices is something you should try out. While in the mystical city of Marrakesh, taking part in a shisha-smoking session will let you experience an ancient communal event and appreciate the culture of Morocco a little better." - Canadian Traveller.com

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This Friday - Have a Happy Islamic New Year 1439!

The Islamic New Year or Hijri New Year (Arabic: رأس السنة الهجرية‎‎ Raʼs al-Sanah al-Hijrīyah) is the day that marks the beginning of a new Islamic calendar year, and is the day on which the year count is incremented. The first day of the year is observed on the first day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar.

The first Islamic year begans in 622 AD with the emigration of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. All religious duties, such as prayer, fasting in the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage, and the dates of significant events, such as celebration of holy nights and festivals, are calculated according to the lunar calendar.

Morocco's Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs says the new year of Hegira 1439 will be Friday, September 22

To all our readers - Happy New Year!

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"Starting School" - Photography Session

The ALIF-ALC Photography Club will be documenting the beginning of the school year with primary school students.

Starting School will focus on the photography of children and exploring their world. After photographing local students and their environment, the American Language Center will provide free prints as gifts to the future generation.

As always, everyone is welcome to join in.

Starting School
Saturday, 23 September at 10:30 AM
Meet in front of Batha Fountain

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"The Fall of the Angels" Exhibition in Fez

The painter Hanae El Ouadghiry's exhibition  is showing at the French Institute in Fez until the end of September. It is well worth a visit

The artist's exhibition, entitled "the fall of the angels", ventures through a skilful mixture of forms and colours in a quest for a dream world that settles on the canvas.

The colours printed of her pictures are traversed by brutal gestures and sometimes by the sweetness of an unacknowledged wound, a bitterness retained.

A certain bitterness which comes back in the artist's words, which confers that the choice of "the fall of the angels" as a title assumes, of course, a purely figurative meaning, but nevertheless refers to "a departure, a sadness, a bitterness, a wound hardly concealed in works."

"I claim the silence of the work to the violent contact with the sounds of this world" -Hanae El Ouadghiry.

The round form of her paintings, a dozen in total, refers, according to her, to time and the vagaries of life's sensations.

Christophe Steyer, director of the French institute in Fez,  says that "even if the artist says humbly that she has nothing to say, she expresses so many feelings. Her pictorial work has many things to express through the explosive nature of works, by this very violence of the gesture that it transmits to us."

After participating in exhibitions both in Morocco and abroad, "the fall of the angels" is the first of Hanae El Ouadghiri at the French institute of Fez. It took two years of work to produce.

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Portugal to Fez with TAP

Starting today TAP is adding flights to yet another destination in Morocco to its route network

The city of Fez is located in one of the most exotic and attractive parts of Morocco, with the added advantage of its proximity to tourist hotspot Meknès. It is now the fourth Moroccan city the Airline flies to.

Commencing 30 October, TAP will offer six weekly flights to this destination during the IATA winter season, with daily flights by summer 2018.

Direct flights between Lisbon and Fez will run using ATR-72 aircraft with a capacity for 70 passengers, Monday to Saturday, leaving Lisbon at 14:00 and returning from Fez at 16:35, with daily flights starting from the 2018 IATA summer season onwards.

In 2016, TAP carried approximately 110 thousand passengers to Morocco – Casablanca, Marrakesh and Tangier – while between January and June this year it has enjoyed an annual growth thus far of more than 200 per cent over the entirety of Moroccan routes. By adding Fez to the route map, TAP foresees an increase its capacity to Morocco of around 20 per cent.

If your final destination is neither Lisbon nor Porto, passengers can also take advantage of the Portugal Stopover program on their way out or during their return flight, stopping in Portugal for one, two or three nights for no additional charge to their fare. Since its launch in summer 2016 until the end of last July, almost 70 thousand passengers have already made the most of this offer provided by the Airline, and with these new destinations numbers are expected to rise even further.

The addition of Fez to TAP’s route network is expected to consolidate its strategic positioning on the African continent, which continues to be one of the major investments of the Company. Now with flights to Fez, TAP will fly to 17 destinations in 11 African countries, four of which in Morocco. In total, TAP’s global network includes 85 destinations in 35 countries.

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Fez Tourism On the Increase Again

Tourism activity in Morocco has maintained the pace of growth that began at the beginning of the year, with an increase of 8% in arrivals of tourists at border posts during the first seven months of 2017. Fez has done particularly well

Chinese tourist numbers have grown by 406%

The Ministry of Tourism reports that the volume of foreign tourist arrivals increased by 13.5% while Moroccans resident abroad increased by 3%.

The main markets of the Kingdom continue to show strong growth, particularly Germany (+ 11%), the Netherlands (7%), Spain (+ 6%) and Italy (+ 6%). Emerging tourism markets also maintained their upward trend with + 406% for China , + 46% for Japan, + 44% for South Korea, + 23% for the United States and + 47% for Brazil.

The same positive trend is reflected in the number of tourist nights spent in classified tourist accommodation establishments which was up 17% compared with the end of July 2016 (+ 21% for non-resident tourists and + 9% for residents). This rise in overnight stays has affected all destinations in the Kingdom.

Fez has done particularly well with an increase of 38%. Tangier tourism showed a growth of 26%. Marrakech and Agadir maintained their development and recorded an increase of + 20% and + 16% respectively.

Similarly, foreign tourism receipts reached DH 34.4 billion at the end of July 2017 , an increase of 4.3% compared with the same period of the previous year.

The  number of Brazilian tourists is set to increase due to exposure on Brazilian television. The GNT channel has just finished filming a documentary in Fez. One of the producers told The View From Fez that it will be shown early next year.

This filming was assisted by the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) and supervised by the Agency for the Development and Rehabilitation of the City of Fez (ADER), as part of the tourism and cultural promotion of Morocco's spiritual and cultural capital.

The hour long TV programme,  Pedro Pelo Mundo, examines the tourist attractions, culture, traditions, customs and gastronomy of various international destinations. It has an audience of more than 13 million Brazilian homes and more than 32 million viewers.

A Sufi Ceremony was also filmed

The Brazilian television team filmed the Chouara tanneries, the Jnan Sbil gardens, the Mellah, the Al Attarine medersa, the Al Qaraouiyine library, the Mérinides necropolis and Bab Boujloud. In addition they filmed a Sufi performance at Riad Zany. (See story here)

Besides the tourist sites, Brazilian viewers will discover local aspects of the art of living, gastronomy, music and the genius of Fez's master craftsmen.

Presented by a famous Brazilian journalist, Pedro Andrade, the show has already covered a number of international destinations, including Egypt, Iceland, Greece, Denmark, Cuba, Singapore, Oman, Japan, Germany, Portugal.

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Tangier - Drum and Dance Performance

A fascinating duo for a dancer and a drummer will be performed on the evenings of September 22nd and 23rd in the Beckett Room at the French Institute in Tangier

A choreographic piece by Tess Blanchard with Amaury Blanchard on drums

This is a special collaboration for the dancer and choreographer since the musician was not chosen at random: he is none other than her father, the famous French drummer Amaury Blanchard. This idea emanates from the resemblance between the two interpreters, felt by the choreographer: "I was often surprised when I noticed that my attitudes and expressions on stage were similar to those of my father. We have an energy and a common strength. "

The piece is made up of three elements: the dancer, the drummer, and the drums for only set and musical support; a unique situation where the musician is at the forefront, a real dance partner.

The performances start at 19.30 each evening.

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Lecture in Fez - Ray Charles: The Genius

"Ray Charles: the Genius" A Lecture by John Edward Hasse. Monday, September 18 at 6 PM at the ALIF Villa Residence, 28 Rue Mohammed Diouri. Free and open to the public

Ray Charles overcame racism, poverty, and blindness to gain worldwide acclaim as a singer, songwriter, pianist, and arranger. As a lad, he had ears like a sonic sponge, absorbing everything from blues to country & western music. Infusing rhythm and blues with the fervor of down-home gospel music, he helped pioneer the genre called “soul music.” His unique voice and passionate style made him one of the most beloved musicians of our time. With his genius for fusing gospel, rhythm and blues, soul, blues, jazz, country, rock, and pop, Charles became one of the most innovative and influential talents in American music.

Ray Charles wrote such enduring songs as Hallelujah, I Love Her So and What’d I Say, and made every other song his own—popular standards (Georgia On My Mind; Baby, It’s Cold Outside), rock hits (Eleanor Rigby), crossover country songs (You Are My Sunshine; I Can’t Stop Loving You), and a stirring interpretation of America the Beautiful. Music curator John Edward Hasse tells about acquiring Ray Charles’s Ray-Bans and Braille keyboard for the Smithsonian. And Hasse illuminates Ray Charles’s unique life story and illustrates—with analysis, anecdotes, photos, and video clips—his enduring contributions to American culture.

John Edward Hasse is a museum curator, author, speaker, and leader in his field. For 33 years, he served as Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, where he curated exhibitions on Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Ray Charles, and founded the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and Jazz Appreciation Month, now celebrated in all 50 states and in 40 countries. He is former Chairman of Smithsonian Music. He is author of an acclaimed biography, Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington, with a Foreword by Wynton Marsalis, and editor of Jazz: The First Century, with Forewords by Quincy Jones and Tony Bennett.

Hasse is co-author of Discover Jazz and co-producer of Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology. He is a contributor to The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and eight encyclopedias. As an expert on 20th century American music, he has been interviewed in The New York Times, on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, PBS, CNN, BBC, and many other news outlets. Hasse also served as the principal advisor to the U.S. Postal Service on its stamp series Legends of American Music that began with Elvis Presley. He earned a B.A. Cum Laude from Carleton College and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Indiana University, two Honorary Doctorates, and a Certificate in Business Administration from The Wharton School. He has received two Grammy Award nominations and two ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for excellence in writing about music. Active in cultural diplomacy for the US State Department, Hasse has lectured on leadership, the arts, and music in 20 countries on six continents.

This lecture, organised by the ALC-ALIF Music Club, is free and open to the general public.

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Morocco Sends Aid to Rohingya Refugees

This week, King Mohammed VI gave instructions to send urgent humanitarian aid to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

According to the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the aid sent by the Kingdom of Morocco consists of tents, blankets, basic foodstuffs and essential medicines. The delivery, carried out by air, was by the Royal Armed Forces.

“This humanitarian action aims at assisting the efforts of a brother country to face the massive influx of the Muslim minority of the Rohingya, coming from Myanmar,” said the Ministry.

Seen as a serious humanitarian crisis, the Rohingya exodus has been making the headlines around the world. More than 400,000 Rohingya, mainly women and children, have fled to Bangladesh in the recent weeks as a result of indiscriminate violence against civilian populations carried out by the Myanmar army.

Bangladesh is struggling to cope with the influx of refugees

The Muslim minority has been facing prosecution in their country for decades and the crisis has prompted the UN to call for urgent action and address the issue in Myanmar. “The numbers are so alarming,” the UN official told AFP.

On Monday the UN human rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein called the prosecution of the Muslim minority "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” He urged Myanmar authorities to end the “cruel military operation” in Rakhine state from where the Rohingya have been forced to flee for their lives.

It has been difficult for international media to access Rakhine state to verify the horrific accounts refugees have given about the persecution conducted by the Myanmar army.

In June the monarch took another humanitarian action by giving instructions to send food supply to Qatar following the decision of four Arab countries to cut ties and impose an embargo on the Gulf state, which is depends on food imports.

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Green Bus Line for Rabat

A new environmentally-friendly bus service will be in operation around the city of Rabat by summer 2018, according to Maghreb Arab Press (MAP)

In a report carried by Morocco World News, Mohamed Sadiki, vice-president of the Al Assima group, who are in charge of the management of urban transport, has said that the modernisation of transport services in the kingdom’s capital will be done through the introduction of the new green line.

Al Assima launched an international call for tenders for the bus project in February, but Sadiki says, “the identity of the project bidder will not be unveiled until the summer of 2018.”

Al Assima aims for the bus line to alleviate city traffic congestion and is committed to renewing the fleet by rolling out as many as 600 vehicles.

The 1,084-kilometer-long transport network in Rabat-Sale-Skhirat-Temara is served by 58 lines and the number of passengers is estimated at 60 million people per year

It is hoped the easing of traffic congestion will also lower the accident rate. This week, thirty-six people were injured after two buses collided Wednesday night in Rabat.

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Hélios Trio to Perform in Fez

In 2014, Camille Fonteneau (violin), Raphaël Jouan (cello) and Alexis Gournel (piano), all three graduates of CNSM Paris, founded the trio Hélios. In love with chamber music from a very young age, they explore with passion the varied universe of repertoire for piano trio

In June 2015, the trio obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Chamber Music and continued to improve during the next two years in chamber music at the CNSM.

The Hélios trio performs in many well-known venues in France and is invited to numerous festivals both in France and abroad (in Poland and in Japan in particular).

In 2015, the trio won the second prize at the Illzach International Chamber Music Competition, as well as the Audience and Young Musicians Jury Prize. In the same year, the three musicians won the Prix d'Honneur at the International Competition Léopold Bellan.

The Hélios Trio will perform on the 27th of September at 19:00–20:0 at Ryad Dar Batha
in Fès.

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Hamadcha Concert - Photo Essay

Pedro Pelo Mundo is the name of a popular Brazilian TV series presented by Pedro Andrade. This week the programme's TV crew are in Fez and as part of their coverage of Moroccan culture, filmed a performance by the Hamadcha Sufi Brotherhood

Click on images to enlarge

The performance was held at Riad Zany, the home of The View From Fez. Thankfully, it was a balmy evening - perfect for experiencing the unique energy of the Hamadcha. The group of twelve musicians was lead by Abderrahim Amrani and included the highly talented musical director, Frédéric Calmès.

The audience of around 40, while being mainly Moroccan, included a group of American Peace Corp volunteers.

Also in the audience was a special guest from Australia - Dr Mustafa Ally OAM (pictured left), and his wife.

Dr Ally was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the 2012 Australia Day Awards for his services to various communities and for his promotion of interfaith harmony and was appointed a People of Australia Ambassador in the same year by the Australian Government “in recognition of his significant contribution to his community and the wider Australian society”.

The evening's concert was a shortened version of the Hamadcha's normal repertoire, but lost none of its vitality. As Frédéric Calmès remarked, 'Riad Zany is the perfect venue. It is intimate, has great acoustics and lighting and the audience gets to share in the ritual.'

Musical director Frédéric Calmès (3rd from the right)

Hamadcha leader Abderrahim Amrani

Heating a drum skin over the incense

The Brazilian film crew were professional and unobtrusive

"The performance was amazing, like a meditation " - Pedro Andrade enjoying the evening

Pedro Pelo Mundo is fronted by Pedro Andrade, who has made a named for himself with a highly successful career in TV journalism. He began his international career by presenting First Look on NBC for 4 years (for which he received an Emmy nomination).  He later presented a reality show called On the Rocks and was a correspondent on the Today Show (a landmark programme in television history).

In 2013, he signed a contract with ABC to run Fusion Live, his own morning show on Fusion (Disney / ABC Group). The attraction was so successful that in a few months it occupied the prime time of the channel. During his career Pedro has interviewed some of the world's greatest celebrities such as Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Michele Obama, Malala, Keanu Reeves, Pierce Brosnan, Vik Muniz, Pelé, Laird Hamilton, Ronaldo Phenomenon, Eva Mendes and Alejandro Iñáritu.

Pedro says his time in Fez is something he will long remember and plans to come back for a more leisurely holiday

Moroccan children dressed up for the occasion 

One of the unexpected highlights of the evening was performance of a melhoun piece "el bouraqiya", by a young Moroccan female singer, Ikram Kajouar, whose unamplified voice rang, clear as a bell, around the courtyard. She sang this during the prelude to the tsalliya.

 Ikram Kajouar -  blessed with a "bell-like" voice

The Hamadcha performance included El ada, el jazouliya, el lounasa essghira, tsalliya, el lounasa el kebira (including the hadra) and saf el guenbri.

As the performance approached its climax with the beautiful saf el guenbri, the audience rose to their feet and joined with the Hamadcha. As is usual at such events, there were a number of women "trancing" and the evening ended on a high note with traditional ululation and applause.

Two of the women "trance dancing"

Photographs: Sandy McCutcheon

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Expressive Dance Festival in Fez

The eleventh edition of the International Festival of Expressive Dance will take place from the 15th to 18th of November in Fez. The festival theme is "when the body rises"

Initiated by the association "Babylon Cult-Art", the festival will see the participation of several artists and choreographic troupes from many countries, who will present shows featuring different types of dance.

This edition will be enhanced by dance workshops and the organisation of round table discussions, which will be facilitated by artists and researchers.

According to the organisers, this cultural event is a contribution to the animation and enrichment of the cultural scene of Fez but also a forum for the public to discover the art.

This event is also a space for encounters, artistic interaction and exchange between Moroccan choreographers and their foreign counterparts, and an opportunity to explore ways to enhance and develop traditional dances.

A databank on traditional and contemporary expressive dance has been created to help professionals, dance enthusiasts and body-culture enthusiasts to deepen their knowledge and develop their research in this field.

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