NOURA MINT SEYMALI - “Guéreh” كيره

Описание: Title: “Guéreh” كيره
Artist: NOURA MINT SEYMALI نورة منت سيمالي
Album: Yenbett ينبت

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AUDIO:
Produced by: Mikey Coltun & Matthew Tinari
Executive Produced by: Matthew Tinari
Recorded by: Mikey Coltun in Nouakchott, Mauritania
Mixed and Additional Recording by: Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets
Mastered by: Seth Manchester

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VIDEO:
Directed by: Michele Cattani
Produced by: Matthew Tinari
Filmed in Atar, Mauritania.

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MUSICIANS:
Noura Mint Seymali - lead vocals, ardine
Jeich Ould Chighaly - guitar
Ousmane Touré - bass
Matthew Tinari - drums

with:
Ayniyana Chighaly - ardine, backing vocals
Loubaba N'Guidheye - backing vocals
Jeich Ould Badu - tidinit
Mohamed Moudi Ahmed - t'beul

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Special thanks: Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Taleb, Alliance Française - Atar, Mauritanie, Med Lemine Rajel

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In the Adrar region of Mauritania, the town of Atar sits perched on a rocky plateau above vast expanses of Sahara desert. Nestled in the stone cervices below lies an oasis where fresh water swells from the ground and the shade of date palms drape exhausted eyes in benevolent green. The temperature drops ten degrees and a protective envelopment transports to another dimension. Naturally this is a place of music.

At night, in the wedding tents, music of the oasis consummates the gathering, streamed and officiated by the griot out to the community. There are dances for each group present; women, men, young, old, songs for the arrival of the married couple. “Guéreh” is one such wedding dance, played traditionally for the groomsmen, that originated in Atar. Jeich Ould Abba, a blind tidinit playing legend, originally popularized it generations ago and the national television ran a clip in the pre-internet era of the 1970s that spread it around the country. Here Jeich Ould Chighaly (guitar) is joined by Jeich Ould Baddu (from the same Atar family as Ould Abba) on tidinit, honoring the song’s Atar lineage. This version of “Guéreh” seeks to resurface a hidden gem, largely forgotten in Mauritanian popular memory, now dusted off, reshaped and renewed by Noura Mint Seymali and her band’s signature depth and kaleidoscopic take on tradition.

The video for “Guéreh” takes us down into the oasis wellspring of music and back up to Atar at night for a dance with the community. While filming, we invited the entire town to show up by word of mouth and by renting a car with massive speakers strapped to the roof to drive around Atar blaring an announcement for a concert by Noura Mint Seymali and video dance off of Guéreh. We invited the elders and families related to the song. In doing so we hope to have captured a relived community interpretation an old classic.

Poetry recognizing celebrants of an occasion in real time is a hallmark of the griot tradition. As such, the lyrics of “Guéreh” encourage a past dancer, named Souleyman, to get into the groove. On occasion a particularly catchy line enters the wider repertoire. While the original Souleyman is unkown, he is immortalized in the lyric that Noura riffs on here when she sings in Hassaniya “Souleyman is dancing now, go Souleyman!”