Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Haim Abitbol Digitized: Rare Recordings from the Koutobiaphone Era

Haim Abitbol. Abitbol. Koutoubiaphone. 1970s

Ok. I have been meaning to post this for some time. I first discussed Haim Abitbol (also sometimes listed as Botbol, it changes from album to album) over a year and half ago. I then posted some information about him here.

The short of it is is that Haim Abitbol was born in Fez in the 1930s to a musical family. By the 1950s he was collaborating with Salim Halali and others. I picked up this cassette in 2009 in Casablanca and was blown away. Really great chaabi music. Many of Abitbol's albums appeared on the now defunct Koutoubiaphone label. He continues to perform to this day. Abitbol represents part of the long tradition of North African Jews performing unparalleled North African popular music. I digitized this cassette last week and I am providing the first track Toumobile jaya below. I will add the others soon.

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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 23, 2010 at 11:37 AM

    Excellent! I'm craving for more. Thank you for sharing.

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  2. AbdelDecember 26, 2010 at 5:46 AM

    Thanks a lot .. Much appreciated!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robert CodescuJanuary 3, 2011 at 12:44 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. shinerJanuary 7, 2011 at 11:38 AM

    Thank you!
    would love to hear the whole thing
    noam

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  5. tim abdellahNovember 9, 2011 at 11:40 AM

    Great stuff! Koutoubiaphone actually still exists - the name was changed to Tichkaphone at some point, and they continue to produce CDs. They run the store in Casablanca called Le Comptoir Marocain de Distribution de Disques, where you can still find a bunch of vinyl!

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