Boujeloud

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The Master Musicians of Joujouka are often credited with being the first "World Music" group. The Joujouka music for Boujeloud, or the Father of Skins, is frantic and has several movements which would equate to a symphony or the score of an opera if it were European classical music. The festival and ritual originate in the worship of the God Pan. Pan was evoked in the springtime to ensure the fertility of both the crops and the people. The people of Joujouka have kept this ancient tradition alive to this day. In 1968 Brian Jones the lead guitarist and founder of the Rolling Stones recorded the Master Musicians of Joujouka in their village in the Ahl Srif Mountains in northern Morocco. Jones was introduced to Joujouka music by the Beat Generation painter and inventor Brion Gysin and the Moroccan painter Mohamed Hamri, who was from the village. The LP "Brian Jones presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka" (Rolling Stones Records) was released in 1971 and was the last project Jones worked on before his death in 1969. In 1994 Frank Rynne began a two year long project recording the Master Musicians of Joujouka in their village. Sub Rosa released two CDs from these recordings, Joujouka Black Eyes (SR87) and Sufi (SR97) to critical acclaim in 1995 and 1996 respectively. This is the third and final CD from these intimate recordings to be released by Sub Rosa.
Boujeloud
In the mythology of the village of Joujouka, Boujeloud is a half-man/half-goat creature who bears a great resemblance to the ancient god Pan. Each year for a week following the Islamic festival of Aid El Kebir (the Big Feast) the musicians enact the pagan-like ritual of Boujeloud. A man sewn into black goat-skins dances wildly while the musicians play a suite of music to both calm the beast and to scare him away. Joujouka music is played on either small bamboo flutes called liras or on the loud oboe-like rhaita and is backed by their primal drumming. The Masters Musicians utilise circular breathing to play long notes over which the lead pipers play melodies and solos. This CD demonstrates the trance inducing sounds of Joujouka.
Ritual Music "The Rites of Pan"
Boujeloud (SR243) contains several different renditions of the ritual music Boujeloud. Each version has a widely different character which is determined by the combination of musicians and the spontaneous improvisation of the lead players. Tracks (tracks 1, 2, 6, and 8) are flute versions from various combinations of the Masters while track 3 features the intense sound of the massed rhaitas playing the ritual. There are also songs which are used in lead up to the ritual Allah a Mohamed El Hub Tenani Allah and Mohamed Kiss my Heart and Mali Mal Hal M'Halmaz Everyone is Together. The song Joujouka Ei Calihoun Joujouka Black Eyes is played after the musicians have used their music to drive Boujeloud/Pan out of the village.
The musicians recording on this CD span four generation of Joujouka masters.
Master musician Mujehid Mujdoubi was 83 years old when he recorded Boujeloud (track 2) and Joujouka Ei Calihoun (track 9). Though he had lost the ability to play the double-reed rhaita Mujehid's lira playing fully demonstrates the musical dexterity which seventy years playing honed to perfection. These were the last recordings he made before he died in 1998.
The core group who still live and play in the village are widely represented on this CD.
Rhaita player Abdelslam Errtoubi's soloing on track 10 shows demonstrates his wild virtuosity. Master drummers Ahmed El Attar and El Khalil Radi play on all tracks. The Masters massed sound can be appreciated on track 3 performing the Boujeloud ritual in the centre of the village, the shouts of the villagers can be heard combining with climaxes of beat and tone.
The different versions of Boujeloud and the related songs like Joujouka Ei Calihoun allow the listener to experience the melodies and the improvisational nature of Joujouka music played live in its natural setting. These recordings are an intimate and unique experience.
"This is the closest any music comes to rock....in its intensity"
Billy Corgan leader of Smashing Pumpkins after hearing the musicians play en masse with rhaitas and drums in Joujouka, March 2006