Liberté

Vintage raï

On Liberté, producer Martin Meissonnier has nailed the true sound of Khaled’s raï, never before captured on disc. Marrying a wild ‘live’ dynamic with meticulous studio science, this recording is the best album by the King of Raï in decades.

Hada Raykoum, La Liberté, Yamina: the new album features so many hits which until now were only available in the versions recorded in the early 1980s, with Khaled’s voice wedged between synths and drum machines. Now these classic tracks are given a sublime orchestral dimension. Without losing that bouncy raï energy of the originals, Martin Meissonnier has done a terrific job of artistic restoration here.

Khaled in the studio during the recording of the new album Liberté

The track Yamina begins with velvety Egyptian violins, then lifts into a heartrendingly pure and powerful raï. Khaled’s voice releases the lyrics like a rap with a flow straight out of Oran. “The vocals, the violin, the oud, the bass and the drums were all recorded in a single take. It’s a killer performance, I love it!” says Meissonnier. Hada Raykoum, another highlight, features vocals from Rita Marley. “Khaled had recorded a version of this song in Jamaica” explains Martin, “we recovered the backing vocals and used them on this recording.”

La Liberté (Freedom) also sounds better than ever, with a fantastic three minute intro of accordion, vocals and a classic raï analogue synth. “When we started the recording, Khaled insisted I find a Kawai 900 to reproduce the sound of those times. We never tracked down that exact model, but we found a suitably vintage equivalent.” Martin says. The lyrics of this huge hit have a double meaning – the song is about a man trying to escape “two years of suffering” with a woman who has cast a spell over him. Two years being the duration of military service in Algeria.

Old friends

In choosing Martin Meissonier to produce his new album, Khaled renewed a friendship which began in Oran in 1985, the year the cassette of Hada Raykoum sold three million copies. “At the time, Khaled was singing at weddings which lasted til dawn,” Martin remembers, “he would start with the men, and then at 3am he would change the repertoire and sing for the women. He would perform sitting cross-legged, playing two synthesisers: one Kawai 900 which had a kind of bagpipes sound and a Crumar to layer notes over that. He also had violin, bass, darbouka, tar and guitar. The shows would happen in tents up on the roof terraces. I once saw the most insane vocal duel between Khaled and Sahraoui, who was said at the time to have one of the most beautiful voices in Oran.”

Martin Meissonier had made the trip to Algeria - the home of raï – to put together a programme for the celebrated raï festival in Bobigny, the event which launched the genre onto the French scene in January 1986. Khaled, already a legend back home, attracted 4000 people to his show at a venue with only half that capacity. Two years later, Meissonnier meets Khaled again when Safy Boutella asked him to produce Kutché, the album which kickstarted Cheb Khaled’s huge following in France, the spring-board to his eventual global success.

Twenty years later, they meet again to reinvigorate the musical essence of raï. Martin: “I wanted to make an album recorded under live conditions. I didn’t want a ‘click’ – no metronome or drum machine. I had always found Khaled’s concerts to be better than the albums, because with his voice, he lifts the band in an incredible way. So, the idea was to record Khaled with the eight members of his core group. Most of them are the musicians who play live with him, such as the violin player Kouider Berkane, who has played with him for over thirty years. The bassist Maurice Zemmour has been his band-leader for 19 years, but had never recorded on a Khaled album before.”

Back to the source

This album gives fans some moments of pure raï heaven – the track Sidi Rabbi is vintage Oran and an open invitation to dance, the singer asks God’s forgiveness for all the foolish things he has done in his life, in an almost sufi spirit. As on his previous album Ya-Rayi, Khaled covers two songs by Blaoui Houari: the emotionally charged Zabana, which tells the story of the first man condemned to death in Oran during French colonial rule, and the nostalgic Baba, the only song in French, dedicated to the memory of his father. “We chose to make an album which returns to the roots sounds of Oran and Morocco” explains Martin. There are unmistakable touches of the berber style of Nass El Ghiwan - the main inspiration for the thirteen year old Khaled’s first band, Noujoum El Khams (The Five Stars). Another first: he includes a gnawa track, singing the long intro accompanied by a gumbri, with all the conviction of a ‘maâlem’. A pop guitar fires up the band, “a nod to Led Zeppelin” explains Martin mischievously, as the song builds up into the ultimate trance music.

François Bensignor

Khaled will headline on Saturday 19 September at WOMAD’s Tower Festival, London
www.towerfestival.com
www.wrasserecords.com

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