In 1960, when Mauritania won independence from France, over 60% of all Mauritanians were nomads, and the capital city of Nouakchott was home to only 500 people. (The first president of Mauritania, Moktar ould Daddah, initially lived in a khaima — a traditional tent — installed on the grounds of what is now the Presidential Palace.) Today, less than 5% of Mauritanians remain nomads, and the population of Nouakchott has mushroomed to 1.6 million. This rapid sedentarization, caused by a series of lengthy droughts beginning in the late 1960s, had dramatic economic and social consequences. Nomadic patrilineages that had lived off their camel herds and date palms for generations spread throughout West and Central Africa, supporting their families with dry-goods stores. Other tribes, who for centuries had survived through razzias (cattle raids) and military prowess, took over Nouakchott's black market in foreign currency, while still others monopolized the trade in imported cars.
These deep changes in Mauritanian life have been accompanied by important transformations in the form, content, and context of Beydane music. In 1960, most Iggiw (griots) were still attached to the rural tents of warrior chiefs. (The three principal warrior emirates — or tribal confederations — were located in the Hodh in eastern Mauritania, the Tagant in central Mauritania, and the Trarza/Brakna in the southwest; the majority of griot families have roots in these regions.) Today, the overwhelming majority of them live in Nouakchott.
Few musicians have been as central to these changes as Hammadi ould Nana. Hammadi was born in the winter of 1957/1958 in Tidjikja, the capital of the Tagant region, and was named after his paternal grandfather, who had come to Tidjikja from eastern Mauritania sometime in the 1920s. He was initiated into the secrets of the tidinit by his father Khalife, who had himself mastered the instrument during his years of apprenticeship in Néma, the capital of the Hodh Ech Chargui region. (The griots of the two Hodhs — the regions closest to the Malian border — are generally considered the finest tidinit players in Mauritania.) Another of Hammadi's earliest musical influences was his paternal grandmother, who led a trio of female singers performing a repertoire of driving dance songs.
By the age of nine, Hammadi was accompanying Khalife to weddings and naming ceremonies, and by seventeen he had begun performing throughout Tidjikja alongside his sister Nibqiha and a chorus of female singers. Although he had learned much of the traditional tidinit repertoire — which consists of hundreds of melodies, often with set lyrics and regional associations — he was more inspired by the dance rhythms of Haratin folk music. (The Haratines, or "black Moors," are the descendants of the sub-Saharan slaves who were the vassals of the Bidan, or "white Moors." They share the Bidan's language, Hassaniya, and much of their culture, but possess their own rich folk music tradition.)
In the late 1960s, Hammadi discovered the six-string guitar. One of his cousins had come to Tidjikja from Néma to study the tidinit with Khalife, and had brought the strange new instrument with him; when he left several months later, the guitar did not go with him. Over the following years, Hammadi developed a unique repertoire of guitar melodies that both conformed to the strict modal structures of Moorish music and drew on Haratin folk rhythms. Running his acoustic guitar through a radio amplifier, accompanied by his sister, several percussionists, and a chorus of female singers, he was beginning to develop the sound that would make his name.
In 1974, Hammadi left Tidjikja and moved to Nouakchott. One night, several months after his arrival in the capital, a car stopped in front of his house and two men asked for him; they were organizing a small party and wanted him to perform for their guests. This was his first recording. Two years later, a member of his Idaw 'Ali tribe brought Hammadi an electric guitar and an amplifier. In the sustained tones and controlled distortion of the electric guitar, he found the final ingredients he needed to complete his hot dance repertoire.
By the late 1970s, Hammadi had become one of the most sought-after musicians in Mauritania, and his guitar style had become the blueprint for the next generation of griots. In 1982, however, a terrible car accident nearly brought his career to an end: he lost both parents in the crash, and did not return to performing for several years. Encouraged by his fans, he eventually came back — though he has not sung publicly since the accident. Hammadi continues to live in Nouakchott and to perform throughout Mauritania.
Hammadi has made virtually no recordings for Mauritanian radio or television, but dozens of his recordings are shared among music lovers on the internet (YouTube) — all copies of cassettes made at weddings — and possibly hundreds of private recordings remain in the hands of his patrons. This cassette features an hour of Hammadi riffing. Melodic development is left aside for hypnotic repetition.
I particularly love the performance at minute 18 on the B side.
The biographical outline above is drawn from a long interview conducted with Hammadi in Nouakchott on May 21, 2003.
Comments
Post a Comment