Lemchaheb

morocco

Lemchaheb is a Moroccan band playing politically inspired music. After being expelled from Morocco they settled in Germany. Knowing that the immense task of being another Nass el Ghiwane clone was going to prove difficult, Lemchaheb decided to go their own way since day one। Their predecessors Nass el Ghiwane were already excelling at reviving the millennia old legacy of Morocco's musical heritage in popular music। Lemchaheb chose to stick to just making popular music, and surprisingly, excelling at that too! Lemchaheb's music was simpler and catchier: mandolins and guitars, percussions, and vocal harmonies। They chose not to associate themselves with any brotherhood। Their achievements helped establish the modern chaabi music in Morocco in a way that they were among the first to play Moroccan pop music using western instruments, hence setting the rules for the genre. Lemchaheb, or the The Torches, also hailed from Hay el Mohammadi in Casablanca. The band was started by Moulay Cherif Lamrani who approached Mohamed Bakhti, a friend of Nass el Ghiwane, about starting a similar band in 1973. Moulay Cherif had a father who was conducting bands in Oran on the lute. He learned a lot from his father as well as from the Oujda Conservatory of Music. His first band was something similar to the Oujda band, Ikouane Migri (Migri Brothers) who were playing western pop music, and had drums, guitar, bass and keyboards. The first Lemchaheb line-up consisted of Moulay Cherif, the Ba...