The Master Musicians of Jajouka Featuring Bachir Attar

Master Musicians Of Jajouka

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 29, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 29, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B00004TVUV
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,265 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #5 in	Music > World Music > Africa > Morocco
  #12 in	Music > Dance & Electronic > Drum & Bass
  #63 in	Music > World Music > Middle East

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Master Musicians of Jajouka entered the international spotlight from the unlikely environs of Morocco when they jammed with the late Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, who thereafter released the venerated 1971 album Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Jajouka. The group finally embarked on their first U.S. tour in 1996, garnering press accolades along the way. This latest Jajouka release features the producing, drumming, and DJ skills of the acclaimed Talvin Singh. With Singh's assistance, Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians cleverly mix up organic originals (recorded in the field) with electronica- influenced collaborations (done in the studio), spotlighting both their folkloric history and their brave new future. On several cuts, acoustic instruments such as oboe-like ghaitas, tablas, flute, and conch shell sympathetically share sonic space with edgy rhythm programming, electric bass, and sparingly used keyboards and record scratching. From a production standpoint, the field recordings sound thin compared with their grooving, beefed-up studio counterparts, which are fresher in their ethno-techno and ethno- ambient qualities. That said, the acoustic tracks are historically important to a familial group whose torchbearers are dwindling. Even so, the inclusion of a repetitive 10-minute track of drums and ghaitas is no easy initiation and would have worked better near the album's end rather than as its second cut. Given the mesmerizing vibe that runs through this music, these compositions tend to be circular in nature, but the whole point is to blissfully trance out, and Singh's input generally keeps the album engaging and gives it a strong crossover potential to a hipper, younger audience. Techno fans should dig the nine-minute dance remix at the end. --Bryan Reesman

Product Description

Produced by Talvin Singh and features Bachir Attar.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History Repeating, September 8, 2000

By	S. L. Winant "aceethno" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Already public knowledge via people as diverse as William S. Burroughs, The Rolling Stones, Ornette Coleman, and Bill Laswell, the "master musicians" of Jajouka are now entering the new millenium via Asian Underground star Talvin Singh. It should be kept in mind that this CD belongs to the Morroccan musicians (if mediated by headman/promoter Bachir Attar), NOT to Talvin Singh. The alternation of Talvin-style grooves with more straight-ahead music of Jajouka--from raw field recordings to a female chorus and even a taksim (improvisation)--seem to propel Jajouka into the future without producing yet another ethnic remix album. Sure, the Talvin-produced tracks aren't nearly as hard-hitting as many on "OK," and the field tracks are pretty decontextualized. This is an album best heard in the whole, and I can't help but think visually when I listen to it, like some sort of futurist/Morroccan "Latcho Drom," with all the immediate rewards and dangers. It is not a perfect album, but it does well to keep the long-visible musicians of Jajouka a part of the contemporary scene.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Future Is Now, May 13, 2008

By	Mr. Richard D. Coreno "Mr. C" (Berea, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is an utterly enchanting release, which merges the voices & musical instruments of Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Jajouka with the electonica vision of Talvin Singh.

Singh utilizes a vast landscape of clubland beats, but the selections never stray from the warmth and rhythms of the Master Musicians.

While the focus is on the folkloric history passed down through generations, the production points to the future through intelligent production and a presence of mind to truly let the music do the talking.

5.0 out of 5 stars A album you can listen to time and time again., September 22, 2009

By	Juliet K. Liu - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't believe this album is out of production. Well I bought this album way back during the launch in 2000 when I was 13, and now that I am 22 I am still listening to it at least once a month, and I am a person who buys nearly a hundred albums per yr. I think that can really tell you about the magic of this album. Superbly produced and irreplaceable.