Tracing a Rare Paul Bowles Recording

The View from Fez does not usually get involved in treasure hunting - but in the case of a rare Paul Bowles double album, we decided to make an exception. If you have a vinyl copy of the double album set Music of Morocco, contact us and we will put you in touch with a man who is extremely interested in acquiring it. 

Paul Bowles (December 30, 1910 – November 18, 1999) was an American-born artist who has lived in Morocco from the late 1930s. He has been described as the father of the Beat movement and a prominent figure in the American expatriate community in Tangier, Morocco. A well-known composer, his scores include the incidental music to such plays as Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie and Sweet Bird of Youth; he worked with other artists such as Orson Wells, Elia Kazan, and Salvador Dali. He married novelist Jane Auer (1917-73) in 1938.

Mention of Paul Bowles and most people think of his writing. As an author, he is best known for his novels such as The Sheltering Sky, Let It Come Down, and The Spider's House, and for his collections of short stories and travel essays. Extensive travel in Europe, North Africa, and South America provided material for his literary works as well as opportunities to collect folk music.

Recently, The View from Fez was contacted by a collector who is trying to find a copy of Music of Morocco - a collection of recordings made by Paul Bowles. While the tracks are available as digital downloads, our correspondent is searching for the vinyl records. Not an easy task.

Do you have a copy of this album?

Paul Bowles presents - 'Music of Morocco', is a 2-LP set released in 1972 by the Library of Congress, AFS L63-L64 and is described as "Indigeneous Moroccan folk music recorded and edited by Paul Bowles".

Paul Bowles with Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Jajouka in Tangier 1991 (photo Cherie Nutting)

The background

The Paul Bowles Moroccan Music Collection held by the American Library of Congress consists of audio recordings, photographs, and accompanying documentation that focus primarily on one recording project. With a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and sponsorship from the Library of Congress, Paul Bowles spent the months of August to September of 1959 traveling throughout Morocco recording approximately 60 hours of traditional folk, art, and popular music. Bowles collected in 23 villages, towns, and cities along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, from Goulimine in the Sahara to Segangan in the Rif country, and inland through the Middle and Grand Atlas ranges to Zagora in the Anti-Atlas. Due to the political situation at the time, Bowles was not able to record in the southeastern region. In 1963, the Library acquired five additional recordings of Moroccan music made by Bowles in 1960- 62. In 1972, the Library issued a two-record set of selections from the collection. A nine-page descriptive booklet accompanies the set.

The heterogenous recordings reflect the variety of Moroccan culture. From urban professionals and religious singers to rural and nomadic tribespeople, the musicians performed vocal and instrumental music. The collection includes dance music, secular music, music for Ramadan and other Islamic rites, and music for animistic rituals. Berber and Arab music predominates, and a considerable variety of styles emerges from the survey of different areas and tribes. Some selections exhibit traces of the antique Andalusian style, reflecting Morocco's historic relationship to Spain. Musical examples originally derived from Mauritania, West Africa, and the Sudan demonstrate the influence of migrations and cultural interchanges across the Sahara and along the Atlantic coast. In addition, there are examples of Sephardic liturgical music and other folksongs from the historic Jewish communities in Essaouira and Meknes. Several recordings feature the rare zamar, a double-reed instrument fitted with two mouthpieces and two bulls' horn resonators.

Dance often was integral to the music events; as Bowles pointed out, usually "music and dance are one thing" to the peoples of Morocco, especially the Berber tribes. In the field notes on the music, Bowles often alluded to the concurrent dancing and sometimes gave movement description. He recorded, among other things, music that accompanied the guedra dance from the village of Goulimine, ahouache (music and dance events) of the Anti-Atlas and Grand Atlas, the aqlal (dance ceremony) in the Draa Valley, Pre-Sahara, and the squel (sword dance) of the Draaoua people of Zagora, Moroccan Sahara. The appendix lists the field notes of recordings where dance was specifically described or alluded to in Bowles' notes or in the LP recording booklet.

The details

Paul Bowles ‎– Music Of Morocco

Label:

The Library Of Congress – AFS L63-L64, Recording Laboratory – AFS L63-L64

Format:

2 × Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country:

US

Released:

1972

Genre:

Folk, World, & Country

Style:

TRACKLIST

Highlands - The Berbers
A1 Ahmeilou (Tafraout)
A2 Song For Male Voice (Tiznit)
A3 Aqlal (Zagora)
A4 Women's Chorus (Tahala)
A5 Mixed Chorus (Tahala)
A6 Men's Chorus (Tafraout)
B1 Aouada Trio (Tamanar)
B2 Chorus And Dance (Tamanar)
B3 Qsbah Solo (Segangan)
B4 Women's Chorus (Ait Ourir)
B5 Mouwal (Ain Leuh)
B6 Men's Chorus (Ait Bou Guemmaz)
Lowlands (Influent Strains)
C1 Male Solo With Women's Chorus (Goulimine)
C2 Rhaitas And Tbola (Einzoren)
C3 Song For Male Voice (Marrakech)
C4 Taqtoqa (Fez)
C5 Gnaoua Chorus (Marrakech)
C6 Gnaoui Solo Song (Marrakech)
C7 Mixed Chorus (Marrakech)
D1 Secular Sephardic Song (Meknes)
D2 Qsida (Meknes)
D3 Andaluz Chorus (Fez)

If you can help us track down a copy of this rare album please contact The View from Fez

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Paul Bowles Centennial Celebrations in Tangier

This week is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Paul Bowles. With William Burroughs and the former American School director Joseph McPhillips, Paul Bowles and his wife Jane, were emblematic figures of the beat generation in Morocco. Ibn Warraq reports.

Paul Bowles, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Gregory Corso and Michael Portman in Burroughs’s Villa Mouniera garden, Tangier - July 1961

While his work as a composer has been over-shadowed by his literary output, it is good to report that there are soon to be recordings of some of his music. In the meantime, the Kasbah museum, the American Légation museum, the Spanish Cervantes Institute and at the French consulate have collaborated on a series of events to be held in Tangier over the week-end of October 27-31.

Bernardo Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky will be shown at the Cinémathèque Rif, pictures of the French artist Daniel Aron will be shown to the public for the first time, and colloquia on Bowles's writings and the translated versions of his works will be at the university and at Tangier's King Fahd Institute.

Aspects of Jane and Paul's life while in Malaga will be dispalyed at the Cervantes Institute and the Am School of Tangier is proposing pictures and recordings of "Paul Bowles and the American School of Tangier". The Kasbah Museum will feature pictures of Bowles in Tangier and paintings of Mohamed Mrabet, a Moroccan artist and story-teller first translated by Paul Bowles.

While his novel The Sheltering Sky is possibly his best known, his wonderful novel The Spider's House, set in Fez, is his masterpiece. The dilemma of the outsider in an alien society, and the gap in understanding between cultures, recurrent themes of Paul Bowles's writings, are dramatized with brutal honesty in this novel set in Fez, Morocco, during that country's 1954 nationalist uprising. Totally relevant to today's political situation in the Middle East and elsewhere, richly descriptive of its setting, and uncompromising in its characterizations, The Spider's House is perhaps Bowles's best, most beautifully subtle novel.

Bowles, Burroughs and friends

If you intend to visit Tangier for the events, make a point of checking out the fabulously scruffy beat cafe that still runs most nights - The Tanger Inn. The inn also has some stunning old photographs (see above and below) on their wall of the Beat poets and writers who visited the city in the 50's and 60's. For more information on Paul Bowles visit the official Bowles Website.

Jack Kerouac in Tangier - Photo and inscription - Allen Ginsberg

Tangier - the truth

Full of hustlers, swindlers and corrupt officials perpetrating nefarious dealings and endless scams to outwit the tourist ... that's Tangier, right?

the Grand Socco at night

Wrong! The View from Fez recently spent a couple of days in a city that has a lot more charm than the guidebooks would have you believe. True, we were offered a watch or a pair of sunglasses on one occasion, and once someone offered to show us the medina, but that was as far as the hassles went. With its colourful past and busy port, the city still has a raffish air to it, redolent of the days when it was an International Zone and attracted artists and writers. Nevertheless, it offers some interesting places to visit, good accommodation in all price brackets, excellent restaurants and a fascinating medina that isn't too daunting to explore.

One charming guesthouse is La Tangerina, perched right at the top of the Kasbah and overlooking the sea, with views across to Spain.

the terrace at La Tangerina

Next door is the exclusive Nord Pinus guesthouse with equally stunning views. It has fabulously romantic rooms and an excellent restaurant; the retro bar and terraces are perfect for an aperitif.

the dining room at Nord Pinus

The Kasbah is a good place to start a wander through the medina. Here you'll find the newly renovated Kasbah Museum set in the Sultan's Gardens. Further down into the medina, Majid's shop is a must-see. Three floors of jewellery, carpets, hendiras, fabrics, embroidery, ceramics and wooden artefacts will have you drooling.

a tempting display at Majid's

Next stop is the Petit Socco, a small square with lots of cafes where you can watch the world go by.
Just outside the medina, The American Legation is definitely worth a visit. Entry is free to this beautiful Moorish house that houses maps of Morocco, a room devoted to Tangier resident Paul Bowles and fine art by various artists including James McBey: the famous portrait of his servant has earned the title of Morocco's Mona Lisa.

portraint of Zohra, American Legation Museum

After all this walking, you'll have earned a glass of mint tea in one of the cafes surrounding the Grand Socco, or even a drink in the Caid's Bar at the old-fashioned but stylish El Minzah Hotel.


Where to eat in Tangier
A excellent option in the medina is the newly-opened Le Nabab at 4 Rue Al Kadiria (ph 0661 442 220). Set in a well-restored former souk, it has interesting decor, very friendly service and good traditional fare. There's a fireplace for cold winter nights, and musical events on some weekends.

Restaurant Le Nabab

Our favourite for dinner was Les Passagers de Tangier, overlooking the Grand Socco. The food was refreshingly different and of a very high standard. The View from Fez team sampled coquilles St Jacques in a garlicky sauce, and the magret de canard with mango and peach sauce. There's a terrace as well as comfortable seating inside.

dinner at Les Passagers de Tanger

All in all, we'd say that Tangier has left its bad reputation behind and is a city definitely worth exploring for a day or two.

Photographs: Sandy McCutcheon

Paul Bowles' novel to be filmed in Fez!

Peter Webber who had a hit directing "The Girl With the Pearl Earring" will direct "The Spider's House," a romantic drama set in 1950s Morocco.

Based on a novel by Paul Bowles and adapted for screen by Laurie Cooke, is about two American former lovers whose paths cross in Fez, Morocco, as clashes between pro-independence insurgents and French colonial overlords escalate.

Timothy Burrill produces the pic, which was developed by Matrix Film Finance. Burrill's previous co-producer credits include "La Vie en rose" "Tess" and "Swimming Pool." He also executive produced Roman Polanski's "Oliver Twist" and "The Pianist."

Shooting is scheduled to start in Morocco early next year.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Entering the spider's house.

Intrepid traveller Chris Patten, writing in The Financial Times, has an interesting time in Fez. Here is part of his article with a link to the original and full version.

Fes, which duelled with Marrakech for centuries for primacy in the Arabic Morocco state, is less comfortable than its rival, which is not to say that our stay there was bereft of modest luxury. We put up in a splendid riad called La Maison Bleue in rooms hardly changed since the owner’s grandmother lived in them.

Dinner was served in the covered courtyard to the accompaniment of live Moroccan music. A dozen dishes of delicious cooked vegetables were typically followed by pastilla (the fish one even better than the pigeon) or couscous and then the ubiquitous tajine.

The local Moroccan wines were part of the deal: a drinkable Semillon and a better Cabernet du President; which president I never discovered.

In hotter weather this riad’s sister establishment, Maison Bleue Le Riad, may be a better bet; it has a spa and swimming pool and a great view over the walls of the old city up to the Merenid Tombs.

It is worth scrambling up to this landmark, or taking a taxi, to get a clear idea of the lie of the land in Fes. The medieval “citadel of fanaticism” (as it was called) is in front of you in the pear-shaped bowl of the Sebou valley; off to the right is the new quarter built by the French and beyond that the road to Casablanca where the young Arab Amar in Bowles’s novel is finally abandoned by the Americans who had discovered him with all his quaint and savage cultural traits.

Much of The Spider’s House follows Amar through the labyrinthine Fes as he hunts and is, in his turn, hunted.

That the city has been preserved owes much to the French resident- ­general Louis-Hurbert Lyautey in the last days of colonial rule there and subsequently to Unesco. Fes was saved from the fate of so many cities in developing countries where, in a paradoxical gesture of national independence, so much local architecture is demolished to be replaced by pastiche Western.

Exploring the narrow streets of Fes leaves lingering memories – the stink of horse and donkey piss, the perfect pyramids of ground spices (yellow, red, orange and blue), the butchers’ shops with lines of sheep heads giving you an understandably doleful look, the tanneries and leather shops with piles of yellow babouches, the occasional visit to a medersa – the colleges of the ancient university – with their intricate wood carvings and blue tiles, and the evening roost of storks and alpine swifts on their rooftops.

Fes is not dangerous but it does seem alien, and in January the cultural difference is enhanced by the sheep being led into the city to have their throats cut by every family that can afford to buy one for the feast of Aid El Kabir, commemorating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac.

Bowles captures all this in a novel set in the dying days of French colonialism. Gertrude Stein described him as “a manufactured savage”.

Dwelling himself on the frontier between sophistication and barbarism, Bowles is the perfect eye-witness to the Hobbesian world that he believes we all inhabit whatever our imagined civilised superiority. As Francine Prose observes in her excellent introduction to the edition of The Spider’s House published by Ecco, Bowles’s fiction is “the last place you would go for hope, or even for faint reassurance that the world is anything but a horror show, a barbaric Darwinian battlefield.”

Bowles is far more relevant to today’s discussions about clashing civilisations and the roots of terrorism than others regularly cited, such as Joseph Conrad. One activist in the novel notes the efficiency of violence in gaining American attention. Amar himself contemplates the difference between political Islam and jihadism – “they saw . . .  factories and power plants rising from the fields . . . he saw skies of flame, the wings of avenging angels, and total destruction”.

He understands the terrorist’s grim compensations not of accomplishing a specific political aim but “of seeing others undergo the humiliation of suffering and dying . . . If you could not have freedom, you could still have vengeance, and that was all anyone really wanted now”.

Bowles clearly believed that we all – not just non-Moslems – live in the frail surroundings of a spider’s house and what others may take as his great insights into different cultures he clearly regards as so much nothingness. He presages the first part of his novel with the ‘Song of the Owl’ from The Thousand and One Nights: “I have understood that the world is a vast emptiness built upon emptiness . . . And so they call me the master of wisdom. Alas! Does anyone know what wisdom is?”

THE FULL STORY: Chronicle of Terrorism foretold.

Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb travel