Chaoui music explained

Chaoui is a musical style of Aurès in southern Algeria. Chaoui is the French or Berber spelling of the Shawiya language. The music is sometimes called Shawiya style in English,^[1] but also as French Chaoui.^[2]

It is a mix of sahraoui (Saharan) music and marked danceable rhythms, accompanied by flute and bendir.

Notable singers include Houria Aïchi, Ali El-Khencheli, A'issa ÉI-Djermouni, Hadj Bouregaa, Teldja and Zoulikha.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Afropop: An Illustrated Guide To Contemporary African Music 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 ...
2. The Rough Guide to World Music: Africa & Middle East - Page 24 Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, Jon Lusk - 2006 "The 2003 double disc Treasures of Algerian Music (lnstitut du Monde Arabe) offers a rich sampling of the Chaoui melodies that beckoned Bartok. More recent examples of the tribe's sounds can be found on two discs by Markunda Aures:"
3. Sud algérien ed. Dominique Auzias, Jean-Paul Labourdette, Collectif - 2012 Page 1997 "Dans les Aurès, on chante surtout de la poésie populaire sur une musique dite « chaoui », un mélange de musique sahraoui et de rythmes marqués et dansants. Les noms à retenir sont Aïssa EI-Djermouni, Hadj Bouragaa, Djenia Khaled, Ali EI-Khenchli, Teldja ou Zoulikha. I Houria A'ichi : Chants de I'Aurès (Auvidis, 1990), Les Cavaliers de I'Aurès (Accords Croisés Harmonia Mundi, 2008)"