2ème Festival Algerien de la Musique Andalouse 1969 Volume 1:3

2ème Festival Algerien de la Musique Andalouse 1969 Volume 1 [3 of 6]

Musique Classique Arabe -

Maroc-Libye-Le Caire-Tunisie-Turquie

Alger • Constantine • Tlemcen

Label: Mehradjane RTA Production

Production de la Radiodiffusion Television Algerienne

Disque 3

Side A  [Matrix No - RTA 3 LPL 4813 380]

El Fenn Ouel Adeb (Alger) 

(Direction Mustapha Boutriche)

Nouba Rasd eddil

M'Cedder - El Djamal fattane

Ensraf - Billah ya nassim essaba

Khlass - Niranou Kalbi 

Side B  [Matrix No - RTA 3 LPL 4814 380]

Ensemble Annaba  

(Direction Hassan el Annabi)

Nouba Raml

We continue with some more of the good! Here comes the third disc from the box!

The A side with the Nouba Rasd Eddil is conducted by Mustapha Boutriche who later became a professor of Andalusian music at the Conservatory of Algiers, led the ensemble El Fenn Ouel Adeb that he cofounded with Hassen Benchoubane, until his death in the early 2000 was superseeded by his brother Mohamed Boutrich also he a professor of Andalusian music at the Conservatory of Algiers who passed away in the month of May now almost two years ago. 

Especially listen to the B-side with Hassan el Annabi (real name Hassan Aouchel) who later also had a festival named after him in Annaba!

Hassan el Annabi (Hassan Aouchel)

Hassan el Annabi musician and singer born November 20, 1925 in El Kseur (Bejaia) he became interested in Malouf at the age of 14. In 1958 his first album appeared and marked the true beginning of his popularity and fame with songs like Fatima Bani Rouhier Louerchan Jesmer and Fana. Hassan el Annabi was a great artist whose gifts have not only defined Malouf in Annaba but also inspired the inclusion of Arabo-Andalusian music the performing arts of theatre companies notably of the works by late Mahieddine Bachtarzi himself also a great master of Andalusian music and playwright. A festival of Malouf is still held yearly in Annaba in his name.

Listen to a very good clip here

and another one equally good one here:

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2ème Festival Algerien de la Musique Andalouse 1969 Volume 1:2

2ème Festival Algerien de la Musique Andalouse 1969 Volume 1 [2 of 6]

Musique Classique Arabe -
Maroc-Libye-Le Caire-Tunisie-Turquie
Alger • Constantine • Tlemcen

Label: Mehradjane RTA Production
Production de la Radiodiffusion Television Algerienne




Disque 2





Side A [Matrix No - RTA 2 LPL 4811 380] 

El Moutriba el Mouwahidia de Nedroma
(Direction et Chant Mohamed el Ghafour)

Nouba Maya

M'Cedder - Idha naftakar
Khlass - Bil ouadjib ya aïni

Union des amateurs du Malouf de Annaba
(Direction Mohamed Cherif Bennani dit Hamdi)

Nouba Raml Maya

Bachraf - Hssine
M'Cedder - Raïtou erriyadh
Khlass - Rabbi ya Moudjib Abdou



Side B [Matrix No - RTA 2 LPL 4812 380]


Ensemble d'Alger
(Direction Abderrazak Fekhardji - Chanteur Mohamed Khaznadji)



Nouba Zidane

M'Cedder - Tahya bikoum
Derdj - El Haoua dhel el oussoud
Ensraf - Ya ghayat el Maq soud
Khlass - Ama tattaki Allah




More of the good! Here comes the second disc from the box!

On the A-side you will find a very good singer by the name Mohamed el Ghafour, as well as some fairly early recordings of this Annaba director, violinist and singer Mohamed Cherif Bennani here in his mid twenties leading an orchestra of amateurs.

The B-side is still better with the rich melodious voice of Mohamed Khaznadji interpreting the Nouba Zidane.

Mohamed el Ghafour 

Mohamed el Ghafour was born the 5th of March, in 1930, in the village Nedroma close to Tlemcen. He started singing professionally in 1948 and became very popular but stopped singing because of the hardships after Algeria's independence from France and it was not until the late sixties when  this festival of Arabo-Andalusian music was first being held in 1966 that he took up singing again. The year of recording this piece he and his group won a price for their participation and he continued to perform at all the following festivals gaining popularity as an undisputed master of Hawzi and Arabo-Andaluse music.

Hamdi Bennani

Mohamed Cherif Bennani (called Hamdi) was born the 1st of January in 1943 in Annaba. His uncle was the great master musician M'hamed El Kourd. He started singing at the age of 16 and was recognised by a larger audience in 1963 when he made a remarkable interpretation of a song named Ya Bahi El Djamel. Easily recognisable on stage even from a distance as he never leaves his white violin that gave him his nickname "the white angel" (l’ange blanc). He continues to be an important figure in the Arabo-Andaluse music scene today.

Mohamed Khaznadji

Mohamed Khaznadji was born the 11th of July in 1929 in Alger, his father had a shop selling musical instruments that influenced him early on to devote himself to music and early on he also studied Quran recitation.  During his very long career among may things he was the host of a program on Radio Algiers for a while,  later on he was appointed professor at the Music Conservatory of Algiers and  has cut a large number of records. Here I should say he is still in his prime and I prefer his recordings around the late sixties early seventies when his voice is at its richest and fully mature.







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2ème Festival Algerien de la Musique Andalouse 1969 - 1:1

2ème Festival Algerien de la Musique Andalouse 1969 
Volume 1 [1 of 6]



Musique Classique Arabe - 
Maroc-Libye-Le Caire-Tunisie-Turquie
Alger • Constantine • Tlemcen


Label: Mehradjane RTA Production - N.D.
Production de la Radiodiffusion Television Algerienne

Disque 1  [Matrix No - RTA 1 LPL 4809 380] &  [Matrix No - RTA 1 LPL 4810 380]









Side A - [Matrix No - RTA 1 LPL 4809 380]

El Mostakbal - El fenni el Ksentini (Direction - Kaddour Darsouni)

Nouba Maya 

M'Cedder - Layali essourour
Ensraf - Ya nadim ellaylou oualla
Ensraf - Taba essabouh
Khlass - Sabba el bakhaniss


Side B - [Matrix No - RTA 1 LPL 4810 380]

Orchestre National de Radio Libye (Direction Hassen el Aribi)

Nouba Malouf




So on with the posts! This is the first LP I post from this box of six LP's, and the other five will follow in the coming days. Any more information that I manage to find out about these concerts I will add to the discographic post here. There was a previous record posted from the third festival held in 1972 here, and I will also, when I have all the photos ready, post three more LP's from that festival! I will also try to update the discographic record to list the contents of all records for all the festivals but this I do not think I can do without your helping guidance! So please join this quest to finally have some order in this world at least for North Africa... Hmm, maybe too big, how about at least as far as this festival is concerned... Is that too much to ask?








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2ème Festival Algerien de la Musique Andalouse 1969 Volume 1 [1-6]

2ème Festival Algerien de la Musique Andalouse 1969 Volume 1 [1-6]


Musique Classique Arabe - 
Maroc-Libye-Le Caire-Tunisie-Turquie
Alger • Constantine • Tlemcen


Label: Mehradjane RTA Production 
Production de la Radiodiffusion Television Algerienne

Disque 1 A-side [RTA 1 LPL 4809 380] B-side [RTA 1 LPL 4810 380]
Disque 2 A-side [RTA 2 LPL 4811 380] B-side [RTA 2 LPL 4812 380]
Disque 3 A-side [RTA 3 LPL 4813 380] B-side [RTA 3 LPL 4814 380]
Disque 4 A-side [RTA 4 LPL 4815 380] B-side [RTA 4 LPL 4816 380]
Disque 5 A-side [RTA 5 LPL 4817 380] B-side [RTA 5 LPL 4818 380]
Disque 6 A-side [RTA 6 LPL 4819 380] B-side [RTA 6 LPL 4820 D1 380]

Listed above are the matrix numbers as they read in the black vinyl surrounding the labels, there are no catalogue numbers or other distinguishing number than the disque 1, etc.. printed on the label and the circled number 1-6 on the sleeves.

The LP-box pictured above contains six LP's that is half of the LP's issued from the concerts held at the festival, anyone holding volume 2 [7-12] is hereby most encouraged to step forward and share with us this assumedly equally precious collection of Arabo-Andalusian music.  I will in the following days posts all the above listed LP's as individual posts and this post contains only the discographic information.

Indeed any other discographic info concerning the documentation of this festival or any of the others (see this post for one of the records from the third festival held in 1972) are most welcome. I owe this information as well as the opportunity to digitise and document these records to my good friend "The Mine of Vinyl". He is a veritable "Saluki hound" for finding rare and obsolete vinyl. I am sure, as the saluki is considered clean, also according to Islamic faith, that there is no coincidence that it was he, who found this precious box of Arabo-Andalusian gems in a thrift shop run by the local Salvation Army here. In itself a good story of record hunting. Thank you once again my noble "Saluki Vinyl Hound"...

3ème festival de musique Andalouse - Alger 1972

Dahmane Ben Achour,

Société du Malouf de la ville de Souk Aharas

3ème festival de musique Andalouse - Alger 1972 - Vol. 7

Mahrajan - Club du Disque Arabe - CDA LP 72596 -

Face A

A1 Noubat el Hsine 19.06 Dahmane Ben Achour

Face B

B1 Nouba Raml el Maya 23.54 Société du Malouf de la ville de Souk Aharas

This is an LP that has one side dedicated to one of my absolute favourite singers.

Dahmane Ben Achour (1912 -1976)

His real name was Achour Abderrahmane, born on the 11th of march 1912 in Ouled Yaïch (Blida). Having lived a long part of his life in Alger he died in 15th of September 1976 back in Blida , after an astounding career as a well renowned singer, having started out as with his father as a barber occationally singing for weddings, he gradually rose to fame and became professional.

This record has a live version of Noubat Elh'sine, one of the pieces that together with the Noubat Ezzidane: Ellouzou Fatheh are some of his very best! It does not have all the intensity of Ellouzou Fatheh but it will give you an idea. His rhythmically unbound pieces are my favourite, but it does not matter much what he sings, as he always touches me and makes me feel, that at least I did not waste my life totally, I got to listen to Dahmane Ben Achour, who originally was a barber but rightly became a celebrated singer with his own weekly concert slot on the young Algerian TV!

The group on the B-side I have been unable to locate any significant information about and although the music in parts is very good the singing is not better than average.

One of the LP-covers from the first festival in 1967.

This is, as you can see, only one of the volumes from the third festival and it is volume 7,

Altogether there were 10 LP's published that year only, as you can see on the list below, so there are quite a few more to unearth and dig out of their various dusty hiding places.

I know for certain, that at least two more later festivals where registrations were made, were published and issued on LP and K7. Someone I know, at least has a set of open reel tapes from some of the other concerts from various years, and someone else, that I know, know someone else, that has the volumes 2, 6 and 9 of this 3rd festival. Hope you are watching ;-)

So it is time again to take inventory!

Prod. R.T.A. 1er Festival de musique andalouse (Alger 1967) :

Musique classique arabe. Coffret 06 disques

Prod. R.T.A. 2ème Festival de musique andalouse (Alger 1969) :

Musique classique arabe. 2 Coffrets de 06 disques

Prod. R.T.A. 3ème Festival de Musique Andalouse (Alger 1972) :

Musique classique arabe. Coffret 10 disques

Anyone with recordings or information are welcome to participate and contribute. If you do have more information about the recordings mentioned in this post, or from festivals from other years, please leave a comment!

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More to read here

And here are some pages on arabo-andaluse music that I wrote some years back in Swedish only, but has a discography that is understandable to most people and you can always google translate and look at the pictures.