The Michigan Daily -Friday, October 20, 1995 - 11
Jajouka's music runs deep
II
By Stephanie Glickman
Daily Arts Writer
From deep in the mountains of Mo-
rocco, the Master Musicians of
Jajouka, considered the world's old-
est music group, have made it to Ann
Arbor to perform in Rackham Audi-
torium this weekend as part of their
first United States tour.
This 20-member ensemble is part
of an aristocratic tribe of royal Mo-
roccan pipersand drummers who have
played their music for sultans in Mo-
rocco for centuries. The musicians
kept Arcadian rituals alive within their
remote village, Jajouka, located in
the stony Djebala foothills of the Rif
Mountains of northern Morocco.
The ensemble's music, strongly
rooted in a 4000-year history, has
been passed down in the same family,
from generation to generation. The
musicians belong to the clan Ah
Sherif,translated"TheSaintly."None
of their music is notated or recorded
in writing. Rather, it is handed down
from father to son. The group's cur-
rent leader, Bachir Attar, inherited
the position from his father, the late
Master Hadj Abdesalem Attar. Bachir
and his brother Mustapha are the last
continuing Attar musicians. In a Daily
interview, Attar described Jajouka's
music as "a gift for one family" that
nobody can copy.
Characteristic of Arabic music, Mo-
roccan music is based on a system of
melodies that avoid the rich harmo-
nies of western tradition. There are
include ghaitas (horns), liras (flutes),
violins, gimbris (four stringed instru-
ments) and tarijas, bendirs and
tirbougas (percussion instruments).
Dance and voice are also a large com-
ponent of their performances.
Describing Jajouka's music, Attar
said, "This is the music for peace, to
heal the people, for crazy people, for
sick people and for the future of the
people. It is for people looking for
something deepinthe world. Ifpeople
have problems, they can listen to this
music and find direction. It is a magic
gift." Attar explained how the physi-
cally and mentally sick come to the
village of Jajouka to be healed by the
music. "They listen to the music and
become normal. In the Western world,
they don't know about these things. It
is difficult to explain."
The group's history is twice as long
as Christianity's, but the musicians of
Jajouka were only discovered by the
Western world in the '50s by beat
writers and artists such as Paul Bowles
and William Burroughs. They have
since gone on to record a variety of
musical artists. Their 1971 album,
released by the late Brian Jones of the
Rolling Stones, is considered to be
the first commercially successful
world music album. In 1977, they
recorded with Ornette Coleman, who
said of Jajouka's sound: "This music
is human music, music that preserves
life."
Attar described Brian Jones' visit
to the 400 person village of Jajouka in
1968, when Jones brought a tape re-
corder and recorded the sounds of the
Master Musicians ofJajouka. He was
"the first hippie with big hair who
came to the village. He was a wild
man." The villagers stared at Jones
and his wild dancing, said Attar. The
musicians loved him.
Jajouka has toured throughout Eu-
rope, and Attar and his brother played
at "Woodstock 1994," next to Santana.
This is the first time, though, that the
group has had the opportunity to tour
the United States. Attar has been wait-
ing for this tour since 1971. "We are
happy to come present our music to the
First World. Nobody will know about
us if we don't present our music to the
world."
"We (Jajouka) live the history of the
music. We want to share themusic with.
the world," Attar said. "People should
come to the show and have an open
mind. They should let the music run in
+kta hinn "
RECORDS
Continued from page 9
et 'Hooked on Comix'
ahour-long video feature is actually called "Hooked on Comix" and, despite its
iliar-sounding title, it probably won't help you improve your grammar skills.
ertain, however, it probably will. Tomorrow night only the Ann Arbor Film Co-op
I be screening this documentary about some of the most prolific underground
nibook creators. Now, you might be thinking that you've seen this before.
erail, the-super-popular, award-winning documentary "Crumb" (about famed
ix artist R. Crumb) enjoyed widespread success earlier this year. But "Hooked
Comix" goes further, tapping into many of the issues that surround these
atlve icons: Censorship, the depiction of women in comics and survival as an
temative" artist. Featured are such talents as Mary Fleener, creator of
utburger," and J.R. Williams of "Crap" fame. Showtimes are on Saturday night
7:00, 8:15 and 9:30 p.m. In MLB Aud 3. Admission is $4.
Boss Hog
Boss Hog
Geffen
Jon Spencer did a smart thing for
Boss Hog's new self-titled album; he
stepped down as aleadsinger. Hisvoice
may be uniqueandoften delightful, but
too often he lapses into his Elvis-on-
speed,hypersexual-kitsch routine. This
was what made the Jon Spencer Blues
Explosion's last album"Orange"agood
album instead of a great one.
"Boss Hog" represents aturn in the
right direction for Spencer; he and
singer Christina Martinez, once mem-
bers of Pussy Galore, make a splendid
team. Throughout "Boss Hog,"
Martinez supplies grating, gripping,
energetic vocals. Spencer compli-
ments her with his signature guitar
squalor: part high-speed blues, part
scorching '70s punk. The opening
song, "Winn Coma," demonstrates
how superb Spencer's playing can
sound when produced and mixed prop-
erly; the song rocks out furiously. In
"Ski Bunny," the band reincarnates
some ofthe shambolic intensity which
made Pussy Galore so punk (shouting
things like "One, two/ Fuck you!")-
with the addition of spacey effects.
On many of these tracks, Hollis
Queen's drumming sounds a bit lack-
luster (when she joined the band she
hardly knew how to play), especially
when juxtaposed with the excess so
prominent in the other members, but
it's not terribly detrimantal - just
unremarkable.
The album gets eclectic, often suc-
cessfully so. For the song "I Dig You,"
Spencer and bassist Jens Jurgenson
tone down their roaring instruments,
allowing Martinez and Spencer to al-
ternate oddly sentimental lyrics like
"I dig your bony hips/I dig your...
lips." One musical experiment,
"Texas," blends orchestral instru-
ments in a dramatic, (it would be
melodramatic if it wasn't for
Martinez's conviction) dark, strange
song which would be pretty boring
for those expecting an album com-
posed solely of ferocious 3-chord pop
songs. Of course, that would be bor-
ing.
This is the same kind of material
we've gotten from Jon Spencer-affili-
ated albums before, except without his
amusing but overboard self-referrential
antics. And, the songs are more consis-
tently catchy. Outside of some margin-
ally obsure, but often compelling, ex-
perimentation, the "Boss Hog" does
not break much musical ground, but it
rocks very, very well.
- Josh Herrinmton
Boss Hog are an incredibly beautiful
band.
~
a
HORTY
tted from page 9
1. 'a star vehicle in the purest sense
tophrase. You can feel Sonnenfeld's
biiy to resist the temptation to build
devie around the image of Travolta
a g downthestreet whilesurfmusic
fL,'in the background - combining
;41ยง"Saturday Night Fever" and
personas.
1v t-ybecauseofthsfact,"GetShorty"
Slookslikeasafe,big-budget,no-risk
ction"rewrite.Which isnotneces-
" adt ng;it'sjustataddepressngto
bw quickly Hollywood devoured
's stylistic fireworks, assimilated
nd returns them to the viewer ina
trniliar form.
' des scores of big-name cameos
Ially look for Bette Midler's great
duncreditedtumas Harry'soldflame),
movie boasts quite an astounding
pring cast. Danny DeVito revels in
e faole of a ridiculously self-involved
ar.:"Get Shorty" is worth watching if
it for a long, adoring pan across his
angion.
G-ne Hackman pulls offanextremely
re tunt: Cast mainly as an Intimidating
resnce nowadays (in recent films like
rinson Tide" and "The Quick And
elDead"), he effortlessly disappears
totheroleofhack filmproducerZimm.
nd;ene Russois, frankly,alwaysgreat
wtch. Besides, shesharessome genu-
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42!i7
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