Ahmed Wahby - Chant Oranais [CD]

Born in Marseille in 1921 and died in Algiers in 1993, Ahmed Wahby - whose real name was Ahmed Driche Tedjini - was one of the founders, along with Blaoui Houari, of the El Asri musical genre. A new genre born in Oran in the 40s and influenced by the great Egyptian masters of Arab music: Mohamed Abdelwahab and Farid El Atrache. A genre which, while borrowing it's style from the Orient, uses the rhythms and poetic language typical of Oran. Son of the singer Dader, who was a member of the "S'hab El Baroud" or Banda Zahouaniya group and a regular fixture at the Bendouma café in the M'dina Jdida district, Ahmed Wahby found his vocation as a singer through the scouting network, in particular with the creation in 1937 of the Oran Muslim scout group - "En-Najah" - of which he was a member along with Hamou Boutlélis and Kada Mazouni. His talent came to the fore at the long wakes held in the Misserguine forest, during which he would perform Abdelwahab's repertoire.