MTMB 01: Zohra – Badala Zamana (7″)

Zohra Aissaoui – Writer & Singer

The first reissue project takes us back to the year 1977 when Algerian singer Zohra recorded her first and only single.

Born in 1950 near Constantine and raised on a parental diet of traditional Arabic music, Zohra quickly took up singing and playing the guitar and kept doing so after she and her family moved to the North of France. Playing gala events and receptions during her first years in France it took an encounter with multi-talented instrumentalist, composer, arranger and conductor Joël Hannier to take her into the world of recorded music.

Joël Hannier’s experience in writing and interpreting music for ballets, television, orchestras and a vast array of French and international musicians made sure their collaboration – sung in a Berber dialect – was destined for success. The title track ‘Badala Zamana’ gets picked up by various radio stations, most notably in Arabic speaking countries.

Joël Hannier – Writer

In France the song did not go unnoticed either, but until today – although championed by Habibi Funk among a few others – it remains relatively unearthed.

The 7″ reissue will include the original version next to an extended edit for those still hungry after those original three minutes of Arab disco bliss.

Order on Bandcamp here.