A radio program from the European Institute of Jewish Music hosted by Hervé Roten
MUSIQUES JUIVES D’HIER ET D’AUJOURD’HUI – MARCH 15, 2016, JUDAÏQUES FM (94.8), 21H05. Radio program in French
At the beginning of the 1930’s, artists from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, often but not always Jewish, adapted songs mixing French and Arabic language with latin rythms (rumba, cha-cha-cha, tango) or made covers from French variety songs. This musical style became very popular, and labels like Pathé began recording these songs in 1935, and especially after the war. The success of this French Oriental or French-Arabic repertoire continued in France after the decolonization and the exodus of Jewish Arab people in the 1960’s. New labels, such as Dounia, recorded hundreds of songs for the nostalgic people of the lost heaven.
The first show made us discover the pioneers of this style (Lilli Labassi, Saoud l’Oranais, Louisa Tounsia, Salim Hallali) as well as important women’s voices who served it with passion (Reinette l’Oranaise, Line Monty…).
This second show will talk more of the lives and works of a few big names from singers of the second generation. Among them : Blond-Blond, Lili Boniche, Albert Darmon aka Staïffi, Luc Cherki, El Kahlaoui Tounsi, Maurice El Médioni, without forgetting the cantor of Jewish Arabic songs : Enrico Macias.
Raoul Bellaïche, chief redactor of the magazine Je Chante ! will be one more time the guest of this program, where we will listen famous songs, such as L’albinos (Blond-Blond), Bambino (Lili Boniche), Faubourg Montmartre (Staïffi), Adieu mon pays (Enrico Macias), Je suis pied-noir (Luc Cherki), Hayarni zinel (El Kahlaoui Tounsi) and Oran-Oran (Maurice El Médioni).
Look at the magazine Je Chante ! n°12.
Listen to a selection of French-Arab songs from the collections of the EIJM.
Listen to the first part of the show on French-Arab song repertoire.
Officer of the Ordre of Arts and letters, PhD in musicology at Paris University Sorbonne, prize-winning graduate from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Hervé Roten is the director of the European Institute for Jewish Music since its creation in 2006.
Ethnomusicologist, he quickly developed an interest in the safeguard and digitization of archives, subjects he taught for several years in Reims and Marne-La-Vallée universities.
Author of many articles, books and recordings related to Jewish music, producer of radio programs, Hervé Roten is recognized today as one of the best specialists of Jewish music in the world.
