Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Jil Jilala

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Active from
  
1972

Genre
  
World

Jil Jilala httpsiytimgcomvi400lDqkS08hqdefaultjpg

Members
  
Moulay Abdelaziz Tahiri, Sakina Safadi

Albums
  
Tanger Sessions, Chamaa, La taïesse

Record labels
  
Cleopatra Records, Fuego, Maghreb Music

Similar
  
Nass El Ghiwane, Lemchaheb, Abdelhadi Belkhayat, Aziza Jalal, Saida Fikri

Jil Jilala is a Moroccan musical group which rose to prominence in the 1970s among the movement created by Nass El Ghiwane and Lem Chaheb. Jil Jilala was founded in Marrakech in 1972 by performing arts students Mohamed Derhem, Moulay Tahar Asbahani, Sakina Safadi, Mahmoud Essaadi, Hamid Zoughi and Moulay Abdelaziz Tahiri (who had just left Nass el Ghiwane). In 1974, they released their first record Lyam Tnadi on the Atlassiphone label. The songs "Leklam Lemrassaa," "Baba Maktoubi," "Ha L'ar a Bouya," "ah ya Jilala" and "Chamaa" quickly achieved the status of popular 'classics.'

Contents

In 1976 they wrote "Laayoune Ayniya" about the Green March. The song was embraced as an unofficial 'national anthem' as Moroccans from all over the country marched en masse toward the disputed Western Sahara, then occupied by Spain.

In contrast to Nass El Ghiwane, who were primarily influenced by Gnawa music, Jil Jilala took their inspiration from other form of traditional Moroccan music like the Malhun, sung in an antiquated form of Moroccan Arabic, or the spiritual music of Jilala, an historical sufi brotherhood. In addition to their intellectual, socio-political and economic goals, these groups aimed for a rejuvenation of traditional Moroccan music.

Their musical activities in the 1980s were shaped by the gnaoui mu'allem Mustafa Bakbou and the formation of Tiq Maya. Some consider Bakbou (sometimes written "Baqbou") be among the most important and prolific Gnawa musicians in Africa. The group's line-up changes regularly. Both Sakina Safadi and Mustafa Bakbou left for short periods and then returned. Moulay Abdelaziz Tahiri left for 10 years before making his return. Shortly after Tahiri's return, Mohamed Derham, long the group's musical and professional core, dropped out; he now works in a communication agency. Mustafa Bakbou now has his own group, GnAwA; in keeping with the construction of music-making as a hereditary occupation, members of his family perform in the line-up.

Beginning in 2006, Jil Jilala began collaborative recording and performance ventures with Uve Muellrich and Marlon Klein of Germany's Dissidenten.

Discography

Contributing artist
  • The Rough Guide to the Music of Morocco (2004, World Music Network)
  • Songs

    Dib el ghabaLa taïesse · 1999
    ChamaâChamaa · 1997
    Baba AadiLa taïesse · 1999

    References

    Jil Jilala Wikipedia