RADIO NOUAKCHOTT (RIAFC169)

In 2003, Matthew Lavoie recorded over 30 hours of Mauritanian national radio broadcasts on a cassette recorder. This audio montage features selections from this collection. In 2003, Radio Mauritanie was the country’s only radio station. A significant part of its programming was devoted to live music, performed either in studio or broadcast live from cultural and political events. 

TRACKLIST

1. Recitation of religious poetry in Hassaniya

2. Thiédel Mbaye, a Halpulaar griotte. A live recording from the Kitab concert, a large musical and political event held at the national stadium to promote reading and literacy. This initiative was one of President Maaouiya ould Sid’Ahmed ould Taya’s big initiatives.  

3. Dimi mint Abba (1958-2011), Mauritania’s greatest twentieth century artist. To promote president Maaouiya’s Kitab initiative the government brought a dozen of the country’s most prominent singers into the national radio to each record a verse promoting literacy. This is Dimi’s verse.  

4. Public service announcement 

5. Coumbane mint Ely Warakane, song in the mode of Lekhal Karr.  

6. Haratin Bondja ensemble, praise song for president Maaouiya. 

7. Program intro and greetings for Wolof language program

8. Unidentified singer, Wolof song: Niakal sa Doom. 

9. Tekeber mint Meyde.  A singer from the Ehel Meyde musical family from the Trarza region of southwest Mauritania. This song was composed for a state visit of president Maaouiya to the Trarza region.    

10. Dimi mint Abba, live recording from 1980s by Radio Mauritania. 

11. Caller from Gambia greeting his friends in Mauritania. 

12. Musical interlude featuring Mohamed Seymali, keyboards, Luleide ould Dendenni, guitar. 

13. Guitar player Maka ‘Kolo’ Sall, Halpulaar.  

14. Advertisement for SODEC car parts. 

15. Unidentified Soninke music group. 

16. Recitation of poem by Mauritanian poet Mohamed Abdellahi ould Fofa.

17. Dimi mint Abba, praise song for president Maaouiya, modern arrangement with Mohamed

Seymali on bass guitar. 

18. Nefer (flute) ensemble from Boghé, one of the larger towns in the Brakna region, located on the north bank of the Senegal river.  

19. Unidentified, likely a Malian Fulani musician.    

20. Mohamed ould Bowba Jiddou, a master of the tidinitt and the traditional repertoire, was from a celebrated musical family.  He had a weekly radio program for many years in which he would test the musical knowledge of listeners. He would play a selection and then ask listeners who called the program to identify the name of the mode, or the name of the piece. In this selection he asks the listener to identify the piece he plays. 

21. Cheikh ould Abba (1935-1985). Has there ever been a more melancholic voice? Cheikh ould Abba was, if not the most spectacular, one of the most influential singers of his generation. His intimate and emotional style was a dramatic change from the intense and powerful voices of the previous generation—best exemplified by Mahjouba mint Meyde, track 28. Cheikh was a key

influence on his niece Dimi and her cousins Seddoum and Khalife ould Eide.  

22. Vox populi of woman expressing her enthusiasm for president Maaouiya.  This is a live feed from a street demonstration in support of president Maaouiya.  

23. Jingle for popular cultural program.  

24. Amadou Koly Sall, Halpulaar griot. 

25. The singer Mouna mint Dendenni calls into a popular radio program featuring traditional music. The program host asks if she will sing a song for the listeners over the phone. She agrees and asks for an ‘azay’, a reference pitch from the guitar player, then delivers a beautiful performance. She is accompanied by Meke ould Dendenni on guitar. He is in the studio.  

26. Hassaniya greetings

27. Wolof greetings

28. Mahjouba mint Meyde. One of the first stars of Mauritanian national radio, she was regularly featured on the airwaves in the 1960s.  

29. Unidentified Soninke singer.  

30. Some musical wisdom from Mohamed ould Bowba Jiddou.  

31. Another Dimi mint Abba performance.  This one from the early 2000s, featuring the core of her first electric ensemble, keyboard player Mohamed ould Seymali and guitar player Luleide ould Dendenni (the brother of the singer Mouna who called in to sing on a radio program, see track 25).  

32. Advertisement for Dubai # 1 brand of tea.  

33. Introduction to the daily French language news bulletin. 

34. Recitation of religious poetry in Soninke.  

35. Garmi mint Abba. The daughter of Sidaty ould Abba and Dimi’s young sister, Garmi is the most in demand singer in Mauritania today. This recording was made when she was twelve years old. 

She is accompanying herself on the ardin.  

36. A recitation of Hassaniya poetry accompanied by Graimi on the ardin, in the mode Lebteyt. 

37. Call sign and closing music. This recording ends the last program of the night, every night. 

...

Matthew Lavoie is an American researcher, collector, broadcaster, and producer specializing in rare and overlooked African music, particularly from cassette-era recordings across the continent. He worked for Voice of America (VOA) as a writer, producer, and presenter of the long-running program Music Time in Africa. In 2008, he launched and moderated VOA’s first African-music-focused blog, African Music Treasures, which drew on the broadcaster’s vast archive (including the Leo Sarkisian Library) to share rare tracks, artist bios, and commentary.

After leaving VOA, he continued his work independently through his long-running blog Wallahi le Zein! (thewealthofthewise.blogspot.com). The blog’s tagline describes his process: “For twenty years I collected cassettes throughout Africa. For the next ten years the cassettes sat in boxes. Cassettes have now disappeared in Africa.” It features deep dives into obscure recordings, oral histories (e.g., a major piece on Congolese band Orchestre Kiam based on interviews with 21 musicians), and shares of hard-to-find music from places like Mauritania, DRC, Somalia, and more.

He has produced and compiled reissues that have brought underground African music to international audiences. Most notably, he curated, researched, wrote liner notes for, and produced the album Wallahi Le Zein! — Wezin, Jakwar and Guitar Boogie from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (originally a 2010 double CD on Latitude/Locust Music; reissued on vinyl, cassette, and digital by Mississippi Records in 2021). The project draws from bootleg tapes, wedding recordings, and private networks, highlighting Mauritanian classical and guitar music outside the commercial industry.

His fieldwork and tips have also fed into other Mississippi Records projects (e.g., he brought Bizimungu Dieudonne’s Inzovu Y’Imirindi to the label’s attention). Lavoie lived in Dakar, Senegal, in the mid-1990s, where he first encountered some of the music that sparked his decades-long obsession.

He is a key behind-the-scenes figure in preserving and reviving cassette-era African sounds that might otherwise have stayed lost. His blog is still occasionally active with new posts as recently as the early 2020s.