The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar evoke rituals in Dancing Under the Moon
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Loading... - Ahmad Salah
- 27 Jul 2022
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This recording has been described elsewhere as a “debut” from a “Moroccan Sufi collective”. Not exactly. The Master Musicians are more dynastic family firm than a collective; this particular band were formed in the 1990s when a faction led by Bachir Attar split off from The Master Musicians of Joujouka led by Ahmed Attar (Attar is a surname adopted by group members).
Depending on which group one regards as the true keepers of the flame, their recording debut can be seen to have come much earlier. Perhaps in the mid-1950s, when Brion Gysin lugged a then-state-of-the-art Uher tape recorder up to their village in the foothills of Morocco’s Rif mountains. Certainly in 1968, when Brian Jones made another field recording — released in 1971, a couple of years after his death, as Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka. (Jones’s mistranscription sparked today’s nomenclatural battle between the rival groups.)
Bachir Attar’s musicians recorded Apocalypse Across the Sky for Bill Laswell 30 years ago, and have since worked with everyone from Ornette Coleman to The Rolling Stones. The roots of the music, according to Timothy Leary, date back four millennia. The old fraud was exaggerating, possibly by a factor of four; still, some “debut”. Read More...
