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MASTER MUSICIANS OF JOUJOUKA (JAJOUKA) - Apocalypse Across the Sky

Format: do-LP
Label & Cat.Number: Zehra - ZEHRA002
Release Year: 2020
Note: for the first time on vinyl, these recordings made by BILL LASWELL in 1991 ".. the music performed in several hour long rituals on traditional instruments like tebel and tariyya (drums), ghaita (a woodwind instrument), lira (flute) and gimbri (stringed instrument) reveals hypnotic, trance-inducing qualities and is considered to have magical and healing properties... a pure document of the ensemble, raw and unpolished but exquisitely recorded" - gatefold sleeve, liner notes inlay, DL code
Price (incl. 19% VAT): €27.00


More Info

"Available on vinyl for the very first time: the 1992 album „Apocalypse Across The Sky“ by the legendary MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA. Produced by BILL LASWELL, remastered for vinyl by HELMUT ERLER at D&M Berlin and according to Songlines one of the essential recordings of the ensemble.

No matter if you consider the MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA a “4,000 year-old rock‘n‘roll band” (WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS) or even „6,000 years old“ (ORNETTE COLEMAN) – without doubt, the music of the ensemble in all its incarnations over the centuries is deeply rooted in Sufi mysticism, paganism and the cult of the goat-god Boujeloud. According to a myth, many centuries ago Boujeloud appeared to a shepherd called Attar, an ancestor of today‘s ensemble leader BACHIR ATTAR, and till today every year at the end of Ramadan a fire in honour of the goat-god is ignited. This pagan root aside, the music performed in several hour long rituals on traditional instruments like tebel and tariyya (drums), ghaita (a woodwind instrument), lira (flute) and gimbri (stringed instrument) reveals hypnotic, trance-inducing qualities and is considered to have magical and healing properties.
In the 1950s, BRION GYSIN along with PAUL BOWLES were among the first westerners to witness such a ceremony, and it was GYSIN who invited the MASTER MUSICINS OF JAJOUKA to play in his restaurant in Tanger, and who later (in 1967) brought BRIAN JONES to the small village of Jajouka where the ROLLING STONES guitarist recorded the ensemble for what became the first „world music album” and that raised interest in the MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA in the western world. Since those days, a wide number of creative minds like WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS, ORNETTE COLEMAN, MARC RIBOT, FLEA, TALVIN SINGH or the ROLLING STONES have worked with THE MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA who are now performing regularly outside Morocco.
In 1991, iconic producer BILL LASWELL also embarked on a trip to the small village of just 800 inhabitants in the Rif mountains to record the group for his AXIOM label - „Apocalypse Across The Sky“ is, unlike other LASWELL projects that bring together different cultures and genres, a pure document of the ensemble, raw and unpolished but exquisitely recorded, and ranks according to the world music magazine Songlines among the essential recordings of the legendary MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA and is now available on vinyl for the very first time!

Musicians
Bachir Attar (Leader) - Ghaita, Gimbri, Lira, Vocals
Mohamed Bacari - Ghaita, Gimbri, Lira, Vocals
Ali Nachat - Ghaita, Gimbri, Lira, Vocals
Larbi Lalli Attar - Ghaita, Lira, Tarija, Vocals
Mohammed El Hammadi – Ghaita, Gimbri, Tebel, Vocals
Ali Mojdoubl - Ghaita, Liria, Tarija, Vocals
Tahir Bokzar - Ghaita, Violin, Lira, Vocals
Abdellah Sandaoui Attar - Ghaita, Lira, Tarija, Vocals
Abdellah Attar - Ghaita, Tebel, Vocals
Lahesen Brital - Violin, Tarija, Vocals
Abdeslam Bokzar - Tarija, Vocals
Abdellah Shirioui - Tarija, Vocals
Mokhtar Jaghdal - Tebel, Vocals
Mostapha Attar - Tebel, Vocals
Abmed EI Himdi - Tebel, Vocals
Abdellah Bokzar - Tebel, Vocals

Womens Group
Rahama Attar - Bendir, Vocals
Menana Attar - Tarija, Vocals
Rahama Attar - Tarija, vocals
Hadoush Attar - Tarija, Vocals
Rahama Attar - Tarija, Vocals
Yamna Attar - Tarija, Vocals


Produced by Bill Laswell

Recorded at Jajouka in the foothills of the Rif Mountains of Morocco on november 8, 9 and 10, 1991
Coordination and production assistance in Morocco: Nicky Skopelitis
Assistance in Tangier and Jajouka: Cheerie Nutting

Engineered by Oz Fritz
Assistant engineer: Carl Glanville
Mixed at The Hit Factory, New York

Remastered for vinyl by Helmut Erler at D&M, Berlin

https://zehra.bandcamp.com/album/apocalypse-across-the-sky