Houria Aïchi

Houria Aïchi ⵃⵓⵔⵉⴰ ⴰⵢⵛⵉ
Houria Aïchi at the 20th Maghreb des livres (Paris, February 8, 2014).
Background information
Born	Batna, Algeria
Occupation	singer
Years active	1985–present

Houria Aïchi (born in Batna) is an Algerian Berber singer of chaoui music.^[1] Aïchi sings songs that she learnt in her childhood,^[2] accompanied by bendir.^[3]

Biography

Born in Aurès, Houria Aïchi went to study psychology in Paris in the 1970s. While teaching sociology, she started to perform in 1985, singing traditional songs of her childhood (lullabies, love songs), accompanied by traditional instruments (gasbâ, bendir), Her first two released albums did not open doors.

Houria Aïchi also participated in the music for the film The Sheltering Sky by Bernardo Bertolucci (1990). Her third album, Khalwa (meaning A Mystical Retreat) was a collaboration with Henri Agnel [fr] which was devoted to the sacred songs of Algeria, including those of dhikr and soufi.

Houria Aïchi performed both in 2008 and 2013 at the festival Au fil des voix (fr).^[4] She performed regularly in Paris from the 1990s.^[5] After the winter season of 2017–18 in France, Houria Aïchi was invited to the "Festival Salam Orient" on October 21, 2019, in Vienna.^[a]

Discography

• Chants De L'aurés (1990, Auvidis – Naïve^[b])
• Hawa (1996, Auvidis)^[c][7]
• Khalwa, chants sacrés de l'Algérie (2001, Virgin Classics)^[d]

• • Houria Aïchi & Henri Agnel.
• Chants Sacrés d'Algérie (Sacred Songs from Algeria) (2005, Angel Records)
• Songs of the Aures – Arabic Berber Songs by Houria Aichi (2006, NAIVE WORLD)^[8]
• Renayate (2013, Harmonia Mundi)
• Chants Mystiques D'algeri (2017 NAIVE WORLD)^[9]

Houria Aïchi & l'Hijâz'Car

• Les Cavaliers de l'Aurès (Riders of the Aurès) (2008 agreements with Harmonia Mundi) ^[e][6]

Compilation

• The Rough Guide to the Music of North Africa (1997, World Music Network)

Footnotes

Notes

1. Concert in December 7, 2018 at Musée de la Castre(in French), Cannes, which was followed by an appearance on January 19, 2019 at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris.^[6]
2. Album Chants De L'aurés has:
   1. Louange au Prophète
   2. Elle Sort du Bain
   3. Chants de Partisans
   4. Salah
   5. Fille des Aïth-Abdi
   6. Fontaine Dis-Moi
   7. Gloire aux Chaouis
   8. Soussem
   9. Médisance
   10. Berceuse
   11. Fuite
   12. Amants
   13. Mes Frères
3. Album Hawa has;
   1. Berceuse
   2. Jamila
   3. Keira
   4. Le Cavalier
   5. Le Desir
   6. L'Epopee De Messaoud
   7. Mon Ame Est en Peine
   8. Said
   9. Vent De La Montagne-Six Sous
   10. Vie Noivelle
4. Album Khalwa, chants sacrés de l'Algérie has;
   1. Mewlana
   2. La Ellaha Illalah (Il n'y a de Dieu que Dieu)
   3. Khalwa (La retraite spirituelle)
   4. El Houjjah ('les pèlerins)
   5. Khaounia (l'adepte): Khaounia Rabbania
   6. Khaounia (l'adepte): Khaounia Mouradia
   7. Khaounia (l'adepte): Khaounia El Faidhane
   8. Khaounia (l'adepte): Ahelill
   9. Khaounia (l'adepte): El Hachemi
   10. Khaounia (l'adepte): Atsaligh (Que la priere divine soit sur lr Prophete)
   11. Sidi Slimane: Sidi Slimane Arraja
   12. Sidi Slimane: Sidi Slimane El Koubba
   13. Sidi Slimane: Sidi Slimane Akissaouma
   14. Sidi Slimane: Sidi Slimane El Wahid
5. On album Les Cavaliers de l'Aurès (Riders of the Aurès) and live recordings performed with; Houria Aichi : singing, Mohamed Abdennour: mandol, Ali Bensadoun : flutes, and Adhil Mirghani : percussion.^[6] Songs on the albums are:
   1. Le cavalier, le cheval et la dame
   2. Invocation
   3. Rencontre amoureuse
   4. Les 6 bonbons
   5. La jument grise
   6. Les cavaliers
   7. Mélancolie
   8. Les messager

References

1. Historical Dictionary of Women in the Middle East and North Africa – Ghada Talhami – 2012 Page 58 "... singers, such as the Djurdjura Group, Malika Domrane, Nouara, Houria Aichi, and Fatima Tabaamrant"
2. The Virgin directory of world music – Page 7 Philip Sweeney – 1991 "Other prominent members of the 1970s Kabyle modern song movement are the male singers Idir, Brahim Izri, the male group ... Houria Aichi learnt the kernel of her repertoire of Chaoui songs as a child in Algeria and now performs these shrill, ..."
3. Afropop: An Illustrated Guide To Contemporary African Music ed. Sean Barlow, Banning Eyre, Jack Vartoogian – 1995 "Though rai gets the most attention internationally, Algeria also has a roots music scene that includes Kabylie Berber singers performing mostly acoustic music. Houria Aichi, with her shawiya style, sings accompanied prominently by bendir
4. Patrick Labesse (January 30, 2008). "La bonne santé des musiques du monde à Paris" [The good health of world music in Paris]. Le Monde (in French).
5. Time Out Paris – 1997 p274 Institut du Monde Arabe "Regulars include Persian zarb virtuoso Djamchid Chemirani, Indian sarangi star Ustad Sabri Khan and Berber singer Houria Aichi.
6. "Houria Aïchi". Accords Croisés (in French). n.d. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
7. Hawa (CD). Mis. April 1, 1993. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
8. Aichi, Houria (2006). "Songs of the Aures". Amazon. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
9. Aichi, Houria (n.d.). "Chants Mystiques D'algeri". ASIN B076JD5HVR. Retrieved October 2, 2019.

External links

• Houria Aïchi and the Hijâz'Car "Cavaliers de l'Aurès" – Mystical chantes of Algeria – Accords Croisés (in French)