Interesting thread about Zeffa on Bhuzz

Farasha Hanem

New member
Was playing a Zeffa song from the Ouled Nail on my iPhone when I decided to do a bit more research on the history and tradition of the Zeffa. The first thing I found was this thread on Bhuzz:

History of the Zeffa

I learned a lot more than I did in my initial search on the subject a few months ago. I found the information very interesting. :)

Someone asked whether only one group of Arab people hired dancers for Zeffas, or if all of them did. The Jewish people were brought up, and it made me think of what I learned about ancient Jewish traditions in my theological studies. I remembered the parable Jesus told about the five wise virgins and the five foolish virgins, and thought, "The history of the Zeffa surely goes back to Biblical times. Even the Old Testament tells of wedding processions from the bride's home to the groom's home after being betrothed for a year." Am I right in this conclusion? :think:

Btw, Kashmir brought up the fact that the word Zeffa is the Arabic word for procession (thank you, Kashmir!) :D
 

Mosaic

Super Moderator
Interesting thread, I haven't been on Bhuz for ages, so thanks for linking that Farasha.
~Mosaic
 

Dunyah

New member
Thanks for bringing this up, Farasha Hanem, that was an interesting thread on Bhuz. I miss the days of those discussions! They don't seem to happen on Bhuz these days.

A zeffa from the Ouled Nail? That's surprising, as they are Berber, not Arab, I believe. Where did you find that music? I'm interested in the Ouled Nail.
 

Farasha Hanem

New member
Thanks for bringing this up, Farasha Hanem, that was an interesting thread on Bhuz. I miss the days of those discussions! They don't seem to happen on Bhuz these days.

A zeffa from the Ouled Nail? That's surprising, as they are Berber, not Arab, I believe. Where did you find that music? I'm interested in the Ouled Nail.

Hi, Dunya! I bought some tracks from the CD, "Music Of The Ouled Nail" from iTunes, but it's also available on Amazon. Hopefully, you can hear the Zeffa track on this link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/device/mp3/store/album/B0017LZVLE

Funny thing, the rhythm doesn't sound like the Zeffa rhythm I have on some of my instructional rhythm CD's. Maybe after listening to the sample, you can shed a little light on this music? Thank you in advance! :D
 
Last edited:

Dunyah

New member
Cool, thanks for the information, somehow I missed that Aisha Ali had done field recordings of Ouled Nail music. That is awesome. I listened to the clip and it sounds like a 6 rhythm, typical of Algerian music. Since the word zeffa means proecssion, we don't know what kind of procession this is, a wedding procession or not.
 

Farasha Hanem

New member
Hang on a sec, that name sounds familiar, brb...

Rats, she wasn't the artist I was thinking of, but her name definitely sounds familiar. I was thinking of this singer:





My old troupe did a Berber-type dance to this song.

Oh, and yeah, the Bhuz thread did mention that there's apparently a Zeffa for practically everything, including one for a hubby getting out of jail. :D
 
Last edited:
Top