Rachid Nouni, le Chaabi de Blida; El Haraz

More than Rai, more than Gnawa music, and more than Aïta, the North African music I return to the most is Algerian Chaabi.  It is the music of poets and aficionados, of evenings spent with a small group of friends. 

Rachid Nouni was born in 1943 in the Bab Kouikha neighborhodd of Blida, 45 kms southwest of Algiers.  He started singing in the late 1950s, inspired by the Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab.  He was soon recruited for the Union Artistique Populaire a group led by Mohamed Bouzerar.  During these early years of his career he studied the mandola with Hadj Mohamed Saoudi, a pastry chef from Blida.  In the 1960s, Nouni immersed himself in the melodies and poems of the Algerian chaabi masters.  

Nouni held a day job throughout his career, working at the Blida branch of the Credit Populaire Algerien.  This financial security allowed him to organize his career on his own terms.  He rarely, if ever, performed on television, and remained devoted to his musical muse.  He performed primarily for social events; weddings, circumcision ceremonies, baptisms and private invitations.  In his 30+ year career he only recorded five cassettes.  After his wife passed away in the early 1990s, Nouni devoted more time to his children and accepted fewer invitations to perform.

Rachid Nouni passed away on March 2, 1999, in his hometown of Blida.  He died of cancer and was buried in the Cimetière des Martyres in Blida.

This cassette features Nouni's interpretation of one of the Maghreb's most famous poems, El Haraz, composed in 1785 by the Moroccan poet Cheikh el Mekki Ben Qorchi.  This poem was notably recorded, in its entirety, by the master of Moroccan Melhoun Hadj Houcine Toulali, as well as by the Algerian Chaabi great Amar Ezzahi.  Rachid Nouni's version is my preferred interpretation.

The poem tells the story of the beautiful Aouicha and El Haraz, a savant and sorcerer from the Hijaz (present day Saudi Arabia).  After travelling the world, El Haraz came to Morocco to find a wife.  He soon fell under the spell of Aouicha, an 18-year old beauty, famous for her musical skills, from the town of Azemour.  Obsessed with her beauty, El Haraz kidnapped Aouicha and imprisonned her in a fortress built on a promontory surrounded by the ocean.  The poet recounts all of his ruses to try and liberate Aouicha from the sinister El Haraz.  Finally, with the blessings of the holy man Sidi Rahal, and the help of a dozen enchanting virgins, the poet frees Aouicha from the sorcerer.

Download Rachid Nouni - El Haraz

Here is a beautiful video of Nouni performing with the El Hachemi Guerrouabi, one of the greatest Chaabi singers.  How I would have loved to attend this evening of music and poetry...

Enjoy!