El Hadrmy
Mississipi Rec. El Hadrmy : Kamlat/La Mone (MR,1973,re.2011)****
Written as El Hadrmy this is in fact Hadrami Ould Meidah, leader of the Mauritian band L’Orchestre Nationale. Hzadrami showed a vision of how to create a modern sound first by incorporating a brass section and electric guitars (see the youtube video from the film “Terjit”) but retaining traditional instruments like the lute-like Xalam or Hoddu and the Mauritanian flute, the Neyfara. This 2-track recording (a smaller band without the brass section) was produced in Lebanon during a live performance. All its 500 copies were given away before a second print, which never came because of the Lebanon war.
If I want to describe it I would say that the singing on the first track of the 33rpm 7” could remind me easily of the Ethiopian singing, but for the slow dance rhythm and the electric guitar one could be more reminiscent of the later Touareg guitar explorations a bit too. The voice leads with some bass and with the flute responding, the electric guitar only providing accents. But then the rhythm changes suddenly up speed, groovier and with complex polyrhythms and more electric guitar improvisations. It is a new song about the new independent currency of Mauritania.
The second track, which starts with a rather traditional flute solo, then with an up-tempo rhythm, rhythm guitar and singing, this also goes for a certain Arabesque dance swing immediately. The included rhythms are complex, with bass and percussion, the guitar sometimes responds, accompanies then adds some electric solos against and with the lead singing. The lyrics (in Arabian) are an old poem written for one of the Emirs of Mauritania who was forced to get an amputation from a war wound, a poem which helped him to agree with that decision.
