Algeria
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Aissa Djermouni
Oum El Bouaghi, Algeria
Archival Overview
Legendary Chaoui folk poet and vocalist from the Aurès mountains who became the first African artist to headline the prestigious Olympia theater in Paris in 1937.
Biographical Record
Aissa Djermouni was born into the Haraktas tribal confederation in the rugged Aurès region. Possessing a soaring, raspy vocal timbre of astonishing power, he sang in both Chaoui Berber and Algerian Arabic, accompanied only by the gasba flute and bendir drum.
Between 1933 and his death, he recorded dozens of discs for Philips and Baidaphon, capturing the pastoral nobility, ancestral revolts, and passionate romances of the high plateaus. In 1937, his historic performance at the Olympia in Paris introduced African folk roots to European audiences.
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialAïn Beïda, Algeria