# Gharmy Mint Abba



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The recent post on Rabih Abou-Khalil and Arab or Arab-tinged or influenced music again triggered posting about my enthusiasm for the Mauritanian singer Gharmy Mint Abba, and the dronelike and hypnotic music she and her ensemble generate. There occurs a slow shifting of one "song" element into another as the performance unfolds. Like cante flamenco, not everyone's cup of tea, but I can listen and watch for extended periods of time....


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## Logan (Oct 24, 2016)

Strange Magic said:


> The recent post on Rabih Abou-Khalil and Arab or Arab-tinged or influenced music again triggered posting about my enthusiasm for the Mauritanian singer Gharmy Mint Abba, and the dronelike and hypnotic music she and her ensemble generate. There occurs a slow shifting of one "song" element into another as the performance unfolds. Like cante flamenco, not everyone's cup of tea, but I can listen and watch for extended periods of time....


Certainly different. I didn't dislike it but I'm not sure if it is really my thing to be honest.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Logan said:


> Certainly different. I didn't dislike it but I'm not sure if it is really my thing to be honest.


Can we ask what your "thing" is?


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Strange Magic said:


> The recent post on Rabih Abou-Khalil and Arab or Arab-tinged or influenced music again triggered posting about my enthusiasm for the Mauritanian singer Gharmy Mint Abba, and the dronelike and hypnotic music she and her ensemble generate. There occurs a slow shifting of one "song" element into another as the performance unfolds. Like cante flamenco, not everyone's cup of tea, but I can listen and watch for extended periods of time....


Great music, Strange. Sounds a bit like a cross between Malinese and Northern African music. 
I've found this one myself: Khalifa Ould Eide & Dimi Mint Abba - Moorish Music From Mauritania.
Maybe Dimi Mint Abba is Gharmy's mother? I've also read musicians are of the lowest cast in Mauretania and slavery has just very recently been forbidden by laws (which are not enforced).


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Casebearer, nice recording! Do the recording notes tell us what the subjects/lyrics of the songs are? In digging around a while back, trying to get some info on Gharmy, I believe that I did find that she is the daughter of Dimi. And Khalifa Ould Eide sounds like he also sings with Gharmy in her YouTube clips. There is YouTube footage of Dimi. Also interesting is that the Berbers of Mauretania have largely adopted Arabic as their primary language.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

I don't know about the recording notes anymore than you do.

I did find yesterday that on this Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Mauritania
there are some external links you can follow. Most of them are dead but the French one leads to a catalogue of field recordings made in Mauretania. Maybe there's some nice stuff there, if you've got the time to follow up on it.


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