The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar

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The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar

Musical artist This article is about is about The Master Musicians of Jajouka (with Bachir Attar);. For for information on Master Musicians of Joujouka, see Master Musicians of Joujouka.

Master Musicians of Jajouka is a group led by Bachir Attar, from the village of Jajouka near Ksar-el-Kebir in the Ahl Srif mountains in the southern Rif Mountains of northern Morocco.

Jajouka is an ancient village perched above a long valley in the blue Djebala foothills of the Rif Mountains in Northern Morocco, home to the Master Musicians of Jajouka as well as the Sanctuary of Saint Sidi Ahmed Sheikh, who was a Muslim missionary, teacher of Moulay Abdesalem "The Patron Saint of Morocco," and whose spiritual energy is closely tied with the village and it’s music. Most people who live in Jajouka are members of the Ahl Sherif tribe, which means "the Saintly." The Attar clan of Jajouka is the founding family of the village and keepers of one of the oldest and most unique surviving musical traditions. The music and secrets of Jajouka have been passed down through generations from father to son, by some accounts for as long as 4000 years. The musicians of Jajouka are taught from early childhood a complex music which is unique to Jajouka. After many years of dedicated training, the musicians finally become Malims or Masters. They possess baraka, the blessing of Allah, which gives them the power to heal, and the endurance required to play some of the most intense and complex music around.

For centuries, the Master Musicians of Jajouka were employed by the Kingdom of Morocco as the royal musicians of the King. They had special papers detailing their rights as privileged citizens which allowed them to remain the royal musicians for many rulers - even through French, English and up to Spanish colonization. Throughout that time, the Musicians would still continue to play in and around Jajouka at weddings, Moussems (local music festivals centered around a Saint), and for holidays such as the Aid El Kabir. Supported locally by farmers through out the Djebala, the musicians were allowed to take an annual tithe from their crops, a privilege they held until the early twentieth century.

The first recordings by the earlier incarnation of the Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar’s father, Hadj Abdessalem Attar, included recordings with Brian Jones (Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Jajouka, 1971 AFM/1995 Point Music), Joel Rubiner (The Master Musicians of Jajouka, Adelphi), and Ornette Coleman (Dancing in Your Head).

Led today by Bachir Attar, these are the Master Musicians of Jajouka recognized by the Kingdom of Morocco. The younger generation of our legendary group recorded under the names "Master Musicians of Jajouka" and "Master Musicians of Jajouka Featuring Bachir Attar" with The Rolling Stones (Steel Wheels, 1989), Bill Laswell (Apocalypse Across the Sky, Axiom Records, 1992), Tchad Blake (Jajouka Between the Mountains, WOMAD/Real World Records, 1996), Talvin Singh (The Master Musicians of Jajouka Featuring Bachir Attar, Point Music, 2000), Lee Ranaldo (Crossing Border Fest, The Hague, 2003), Bernardo Bertolucci (The Sheltering Sky film soundtrack), Nicholas Roeg (Bad Timing film soundtrack), and others.

Bachir Attar has also recorded with artists such as Elliott Sharp, Maceo Parker, Ginger Baker and Deborah Harry. MMoJ and Bachir have also toured with artists like Ornette Coleman, Steve Lacy and Critters Buggin.

Music and instruments

The Jajouka flute is called the lira and is considered the oldest instrument in Jajouka. The double-reed instrument is called the rhaita; it is similar to an oboe, but possessing a louder sound and more penetrating tone. The drum is called the tebel and is made of goat-skin and played with two wooden sticks. There is also another goat-skin drum called the tarija which allows for more fast-paced virtuosity.

The music itself is considered to be part of the Sufi tradition of Islam. Prior to the colonization of Morocco by France and Spain, master musicians of the village were said to be the royal musicians of the sultans. In past centuries master musicians of the Jajouka village traditionally were excused by the country's rulers from manual labor, goat-herding, and farming to concentrate on their music because the music's powerful trance rhythms and droning woodwinds were traditionally considered to have the power to heal the sick.

The music of the region has a strong connection to Pan. According to the tale, thousands of years ago a goat-man called "Bou Jeloud" appeared to an Attar ancestor in a cave, and danced to his music. The musicians of the village re-enact this event annually.

Jajouka Today

The group's performance was used on the Rolling Stones' song "Continental Drift" on their 1989 Steel Wheels album, whose recording was documented in author Paul Bowles' Tangier journal, Days and in journalist Stephen Davis's history of the Rolling Stones, Old Gods Almost Dead. An online African Music Encyclopedia quoted Mick Jagger as calling the group "one of the most musically inspiring groups still left on the planet". Also in 1989, they toured a couple of dates with Ornette Coleman. In 1992 an album was produced by Bill Laswell, called Apocalypse Across the Sky. A track from the 1992 sessions also was featured on the 1994 Bill Laswell-produced "Lost in the Translation: Axiom Ambient" various artists compilation.

Excerpts from the song "El Medahey" from the Master Musicians of Jajouka featuring Bachir Attar album Apocalypse Across the Sky were used on the 2000 score of The Cell by Howard Shore. "El Medahey", a standard the group often has played in live performance, was originally composed by Hadj Abdesalam Attar. The group is listed as "Master Musicians of Jajouka" on the liner notes for this and several other soundtracks since 1985, beginning with Ornette: Made in America.

Master Musicians of Jajouka featuring Bachir Attar

Although the "Master Musicians of Jajouka" name has also been used on film soundtrack appearances and compilations as recently as 2004, beginning with Apocalypse Across the Sky, the Bachir Attar-led generation of the group used the alternate recording name "Master Musicians of Jajouka featuring Bachir Attar" on that album and on two additional ones: Jajouka Between the Mountains and Master Musicians of Jajouka featuring Bachir Attar. The latter album was produced by Talvin Singh on the Point Music label in 2000. The collaboration with Singh expanded the group's sound to a more contemporary audience by including a mixture of traditional acoustic field recordings and electronica-influenced ambient music. However critics regarded the work as "putting an unsettling dance-music spin on age-old rhythm".

In 2006 and 2007, film professor Augusta Palmer, daughter of the late music journalist Robert Palmer, had production under way on a film called The Hand of Fatima about the past and present versions of the group, her father, and Bachir Attar. An official website for Master Musicians of Jajouka featuring Bachir Attar in January 2007 listed the group as scheduled to perform in Lisbon, Portugal, in March 2007.

References

allmusic ((( The Master Musicians of Jajouka > Overview )))
Phil Johnson, The Indendent, London, 13 Aug, 2000
"The Hand of Fatima". The Hand of Fatima film site. Retrieved Jan. 31, 2007.

Discography — The Master Musicians of Jajouka

Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka (1971)
The Master Musicians of Jajouka (1974)

Discography — group led by Bachir Attar since 1982

Apocalypse Across the Sky (1992)
Jajouka Between the Mountains (1996)
Master Musicians of Jajouka Featuring Bachir Attar (2000)

Film soundtracks and compilation albums

Ornette: Made in America (1985, film sound track appearance)
The Sheltering Sky (1990, film soundtrack and film appearance)
Naked Lunch (1991, film soundtrack appearance)
Lost in the Translation: Axiom Ambient (1994)
The Cell (2000, film soundtrack appearance with The London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Time's Up Live (2001)
Along Came Polly (2004, film soundtrack appearance)

Notes

External links

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