Eddiwen
Maluf System
Liburia World 06
Formato: digital - Cd audio/digipack
Pubblicato Febbraio 2024
Marzouk Mejri – voice, darbuka, bendir, shqashiq, tabla, tar, nagharat, tamburello, qanun, ney, clarinet, zukra
Salvatore Morra – Arabic oud, Tunisian oud, guitars, choir
Tracks:
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Salém
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Elif
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Suite Asbain
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Suite Mazmoum
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Beb Azrak
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Sufiyet
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Jamal
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Naoura
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Ya Ashikin
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Raqs
Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Umberto Maisto (November 2023, Grumo Nevano, Naples)
Field recordings:
Track 1 - Voice of Manoubi Ben Marzouk Mejri, recorded on 22nd February 2002 in Tebourba.
Track 6 - Group Tanitsufi of Marzouk Mejri, recorded on the 5th October 2010 at the zawiya of Sidi Ben Issa in Tebourba.
Track 9 - Zagharid of Jenina Soussi recorded on 22nd February 2002 in Tebourba.
The Maluf System by Marzouk Mejri & Salvatore Morra is a post-revival movement of maluf music, one of Tunisia's most complex traditional musical genres of ancient origins. Through the integration of transnational musical identifications, the project explores the rebirth of maluf in migratory contexts, changes in its nature and its new transmissions and diffusions. The album “Eddiwen” (songbook) is an anthology of maluf repertoire based on Tunisian modal scales (tubu’a) and on lyrics both in classical Arabic and Tunisian dialect. The story begins with a march from the Ottoman military tradition in Tunisia (track 1) and the memories of Marzouk’s father performing it with the brass band of Tebourba (1950s). Tracks 3 and 4 are compounded pieces in modes asbain and mazmoum, drawn from the large nubas whose lyrics tell of love, nostalgia, and happiness, as well as the song Naoura (track 8), which is a journey through the Tunisian musical sounds. Track 2, titled “A”, the first letter of Arabic alphabet, and track 9 (Oh Lovers) include timbres that are not normally heard in more urban repertoires of maluf, and they are songs which highlight the African-Berber roots of this music, both in its mediterranean contexts and in trans-Saharan movements across the region. In tracks 6 and 10, Maluf System creates and launches an idiom of world music sets for maluf through the standardisation of two practices: “Sufiyet” plural of Sufi, a large-scale musical form of trance ceremonies according to principles of sonic-spiritual progression; and “Raqs” (dance) a rhythmical compendium of Tunisian folk dances (sa’adawi, bunawwara, sugha and fazzani). All tracks are arrangements by Mejri and Morra except for track 5 (The Azure Door), an original composition by Morra inspired by the architecture of Medina houses in Kairouan and track 7 (Beauty), an original composition by Mejri dedicated to his son Jamal.
BIO
Marzouk Mejri was born in Tebourba in Tunisia. Multi-instrumentalist and singer, he has collaborated with numerous Italian musicians such as Daniele Sepe, James Senese, Peppe Barra, Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare, Enzo Avitabile. In 2008 he founded the "Marzouk-Ensemble" with which he made his solo debut with the album "Jenina". In 2017 RAI produced a docufilm on his musical art entitled "Life of Marzouk" and in 2019 he won the Parodi Prize with his trio “Fanfara Station”.
Salvatore Morra was born in Naples. Guitarist and ethnomusicologist, he recorded "L'alba" for Adoro Records, "Luys Milan" for Draft Records. An Arab Islamic graduate with a PhD (2018) from the University of London, Royal Holloway, he explores the modal music of the Arab Islamic worlds and its intersections with contemporary sounds. He studied the oud in Tunisia with Kamel Gharbi and Selmi Mongi.
