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here's a better shot of the document. source is here . What is this document? According to the British Library blog: "A...

When Gaston Ghrenassia left Algeria for France in 1961, he hoped to continue his musical career by playing the ma'louf repertoire of hi...

Many are trumpeting the fact that Oscar winner Mahershala Ali ( Moonlight ) is a Muslim, but not noting that he is Ahmadi. For background o...

In 2005 a chapter I wrote entitled " Against Hybridity: The case of Enrico Macias/Gaston Ghrenassia" appeared in a book I...

Very good documentary on a lila, or ritual of possession, of the Gnawa. This is filmed in Essaouira (where I spent part of summer 1999), and...

courtesy the Democratic Socialists of America. a protest sign for our times.  (in hyper-secular France, would any left organization propo...

This is an old friend of mine, attending the women's march (against Trumpism, for freedom) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, January 21, 2017. ...

The great Moroccan Israeli singer Neta Alkayam covers a song from Jacob Abitbol -- father of the much better known Moroccan Jewish singer Ha...

I'm in the middle of trying to finish off an article about pop-rai, and hunting for photos of Cheb Khaled and his first band, Les Cinq É...

Logan , to open in March - 20th Century Fox     I had actually seen the trailer for Logan in the movie theaters last week, but this sc...

thanks to Marc for pitching this to me Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images, January 01, 1970 I think it's Philip Bail...

Early August 1966. I was 16, on "home leave" from Beirut with my family, staying with friends in Los Gatos, where we had lived ...

In the very fine documentary Nuh el-Hamam (Wailing of the Doves), 2004, directed by Amir Ramsis, 2006), we learn that the Port Said singer ...

In a previous post I wrote about Spanish dancer Blanca Li's connection with Hassan Hakmoun and Safia Boutella. Here is a bit from an art...

I'm doing a lot of reading and video and movie watching on the topic of mahraganat for a writing project, and I thought I...

Ben Ehrenreich's new book about Palestine, The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine , has been receiving rave reviews. I final...

Isn't this great? First off, in Arabic the cover says al-Cheikh al-Rimitti, that is, the male form, and not Cheikha. And in Latin sc...

Just published. Read it here . And my advice to you: buy the album!

I've not yet seen Star Trek Beyond but I plan to. Safia Boutella, who plays the alien scavenger Jaylah, has received quite good reviews...

Back in late May, I reviewed Spain-based Sahrawi singer Aziza Brahim's fourth album, Abbar el Hamada , for RootsWorld . Read it here . A...