Egyptian Jazz

Egypt Strut

Elias Rahbani - Dance Of Maria

Habibi Funk is proud to share 1st foray into contemporary works w/ heady dose of danceable grooves courtesy of Beirut’s multi-instrumental producer Charif Megarbane, aka Cosmic Analog Ensemble. 

https://charif.lnk.to/HabibiEP

“Tayyara Warak” is his 1st EP in his own name, capturing various influences even in the same track. Focus track Tayyara Warak evokes Beirut chaos, taxi rides through the city w/ soft, nostalgic melody paired w/ fuzzed-out rhythm sections and bouncing drums. Keep your ears out for more Charif in the new year.

Charif Megarbane - Tayyara Warak

Probably two to three years ago we received a message from Hassel Dehaes, who shared a 7” vinyl he had found in Belgium with us, asking whether we knew anything about it. We were immediately electrified by the immense beauty of the song and tried to find out anything about the artist. That turned out to be not very easy. Eventually, we managed to get in touch with the artist’s daughter Reem Mitten who helped us license the song from her mother and was also happy to contribute the following text about her mother’s musical career.

„My Mother's journey in music first started off when she was 17, still only a student at Lycée Dar Essalam Rabat, going by her Maiden name Douae Abd al-Rahman Hassani (now Douae Mitten.) Her only experience in music was that of a spectator, eyes for her mother, the singer, Bahija Idriss and her father, Al-Rahman Al-Hassani, a composer. My Mother's first experience in music was with the song “The way of lovers” in Egypt 1984. It was a melody composed by her father and the lyrics were written by journalist and poet Omer Battisha. This was the first time my mum had ever worked with a band, which essentially resulted into a room filled with esteemed musicians and herself. By the time, my Mother had only ever sang in front of her school friends. “The way of lovers” was originally composed for Mayada Hanawe. Due to creative differences she didn't end up singing the song. Somehow my grandmother Bahija Idriss had suggested to my mother’s father, that mum could go to Egypt, where her father had been residing, to sing the song. During that trip to Egypt, she had the honor of meeting Mohamed Abdel Wahab and that is what would be the beginning of my mothers musical journey.

“Parlez moi de lui” came to fruition due to a family visit to Belgium. A music producer there had contacted my grandfather to ask, if his daughter wanted to do a cover of the joyous french song “Parlez moi de lui.” My mother then proceeded to translate the entire song into Arabic in one evening. The following day, she was recording the song. Another important experience!

Although music was my mother's passion, her career did not exceed more than a few songs. It had been a short and sweet experience but her life took a different direction. She came on to be a stewardess for Emirates airline having many different and amazing adventures. Shortly after a couple years she went on to meet my father Alan, an amazing Irish man. They moved to London, where they still reside, and had four children, me included.“

Text by Reem Mitten

Habibi Funk 015: Douaa - Haditouni

Modern Music

Pre-order:  https://habibifunkrecords.bandcamp.com/releases

Habibi Funk will be a new sub label of Jakarta Records, dedicated to re-releasing arabic music from the 1970s and 1980s. It's a label and platform for funky/soulful and/or psych influenced music from the Arab world of the 70s and 80s.

https://www.facebook.com/habibifunk

Dalton was a band from Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. They came together as a band around 1968 when most of the members studied together at the University of Tunis. The band had five members. Faouzi Chekili on guitar, piano and vocals, Ridha Kouhen on bass guitar, Mustapha Rehouma and sax and percussion, Sadok Gharbi on trumpet and vocals and Skaner Alim on drums and vocals. They were active in the local scene, playing music that was heavily influenced by American soul and funk and at the same time regional musical traditions. In the early 70s the band got a regular gig at a beach hotel called Sahara Beach Resort on the coastline of Tunisia. They had six month contracts for a couple of years in the early 70s and during that time they would play every single night of the tourist season. While the hotel gig required the band to play sets leaning      towards tourist entertainment, the regular work helped put some money into the band's accounts. Using those funds the band was able to travel to Rome to record their one and only 7“ single release "Alech" around 1971/1972. The band eventually dismantled in the mid 70s and returned briefly as a new group with new members in the late 1970s under the name Carthago but that is a different story…… 

"That "Soul Brother" is my jam…. !!!!" 
Lefto 

The single itself impressed us heavily when we first stumbled upon it through French collector Victor Kiswell. While the b-side "Soul Brother“ sounds like a Tunisian version of modern soul / AOR with it’s English lyrics and lush arrangements, the title track "Alech“ is the one that will get every party started. An infectious 3/4 rhythm, a great horn arrangement and brillantly layered vocals that made us think of Brazillian music or the Georgian groove band Gaya. Luckily Faouzi Chekili, the former band leader and composer uses social media communication so he was easy to track down. He is still active as a renowned musician in the Tunisian jazz scene and remains active recording and playing concerts both in Tunisia and internationally.

Restored and mastered by Roskow at Audiomoto Studios.


Habibi Funk 001: Dalton - Alech (Tunisia, 1972, pre-order link in description)

Bsslama Hbibti / Argos Farfish

Bsslama Hbibti

Electric Haze is about finding your fire and stepping into the light. These songs capture the rush before the show, the doubt in the quiet moments, and the lift when the beat drops and everything finally makes sense. 

Midnight Dynamo

Elias Rahbani - Dance Of Maria (1974) (1)

pre-order: https://habibifunkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/habibi-funk-007-an-eclectic-selection-of-music-from-the-arab-world

"Without Fadoul we would have never started Habibi Funk. I vividly remember  nding a copy of his now classic James Brown cover „Sid Redad“ in a dusty old shop, run by a man who once owned a record distribution and label called Mekauiphone in Casablanca. It took us around six trips to Morocco over the course of more than a year to  nd his family as Fadoul himself unfortunately died in the early 1990s. Over the course of time, we kept on  nding new records by him that were unknown to us (and recently also two studio tapes from two sessions at Boussiphone studios full of alternate takes and demo versions) and they all added to the picture of a wild heart, full of energy, creativity, yet no stranger to the inner demons a lot of artists struggle with. Fadoul was more than just a singer. He spent some time in Paris playing theatre, he painted, he worked as a circus clown for four years in the Netherlands, he recorded and also composed a single for a famous orange juice brand from Morocco.
His lyrics dealing with topics such as drugs and depression but also having good times paired with a musical backdrop that is always funky yet dirty and played with a real punk attitude. “Bsslama Hbibti is taken of a hardly known 7“ he recorded for Atlassiphone and picks up where the recording on Fadoul’s album on Habibi Funk left off. A raw sound aesthetic, an energetic performance, a mighty voice and a very lively atmosphere that was pre- served in the recordings. So far only the copy used for this release has surfaced. We have also started to work on a second album exclusively dedicated to Fadoul with a partial focus on his 1980s output consisting of his very unique takes on hiphop and reggae. This song, just like the “Al Man Saib” album, was licensed from Fadoul’s family."

order

Fadoul - Bsslama Habiti (Habibi Funk: An ecclectic selection of music from the Arab world)

Habibi Funk is back with another album from Casablanca. Completely unreleased album which was recorded in Morocco in 1973 by three generation family band. A unique blend of Gnawa, Funk and Rock. Traditional Moroccan music meets electronic guitars and dense layers of percussion by a band that used to run in the same circles as Fadoul (And actually wrote one of his songs).

Pre-Order

Attarazat Addahabia & Faradjallah - Al Hadaoui الهداوي (Habibi Funk 011)

label, dj and platform for a wide range of underappreciated music from north africa and west asia

Habibi Funk 001: Dalton - Alech (Tunisia, 1972, pre-order link in description)

habibi funk - حبيبي فنك