Amal Eddine El Arfaoui, Ma Tjib Ammara (ماتجيب أمّارة)
Amal Eddine El Arfaoui · Ma Tjib Ammara (ماتجيب أمّارة) · Tunisia · Phonie
This tape takes us to Tunisia, into the world of popular, festive music built around a wooden reed pipe with a metal bell — an instrument close to what's known regionally as zokra, mizwad or ghaita — rather than the more “classical” Tunisian malouf tradition.
About this release
Honestly, I couldn't find any independent information about the artist Jamal Eddine El Arfaoui: no discography, no biography, nothing in the usual music databases or archives. The name is fairly common in Tunisia, but I found no trace connecting any public figure with that name to music.
What can be said with more confidence comes from the cassette itself. It was released on Phonie, a real Tunisian commercial cassette label based in Tunis, active in the pre-digital era — the same label format (Phonie, “PH” + catalogue number) also turns up on a cassette by the Algerian raï singer Cheb Khaled, which confirms the label existed and operated this way, even though this specific catalogue number couldn't be independently verified.
Covers
Tracklist
Side A
- ماتجيب أمّارة
- غزالي شرد وجلاني حامل الرجا...ش
Side B
- اروّح عالرملة هاوي جيت
- مادام عيني حية يا فاطمة