Mohamed Benomar Ziani (in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

:محمد بنعمر الزياني) (born 1938 in Rabat) is a Moroccan musician specialized in the

Aita Aita (also spelled ''Eita'' in Etruscan inscriptions) is the name of the Etruscan equivalent to the Greek Hades, the god of the underworld. Images Aita is a relatively late addition to the Etruscan pantheon, appearing in iconography and in ...

and

Chaabi Chaabi ( in Arabic), also known as Chaâbi, Sha-bii, or Sha'bii meaning "folk", refers to different music genres in North Africa and the Middle East such as Algerian chaabi, Moroccan chaabi and Egyptian Shaabi. Chaabi music just means 'music ...

music.

Life

Mohamed Benomar Ziani was born in 1938 in Rabat from a family originating from the Oulad Zyan tribe, in the Chaouia tribal confederacy in the Casablanca region. He grew up between Rabat and

Salé Salé ( ar, سلا, salā, ; ber, ⵙⵍⴰ, sla) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Founded in about 1030 by the Banu Ifran, ...

, and learned from different musical masters of the region in several genres including:

Malhun Malhun (Arabic الملحون / ALA-LC: ''al-malḥūn''), meaning "the melodic poem", is a form of music that originated in Morocco.Mounira SolimanPopular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa: A Postcolonial Outlook p.58 (Routledge 2013) � ...

Andalusian music The Music of Andalusia encompasses a range of traditional and modern musical genres which originate in the territory of Andalusia in southern Spain. The most famous are copla and flamenco, the latter being sometimes used as a portmanteau term ...

and

Gharnati Gharnati (Arabic: الغرناطي) refers to an Algerian variety of Andalusian classical music originating in Tlemcen. Its name is derived from the Arabic name of the city of Granada. Gharnati has also become an established tradition in other ...

. After completing his studies, Benomar started working as a civil servant in Rabat before working as an

- French translator in the city of

Rommani Rommani ( ar, الرماني Berber: ⴰⵔⵓⵎⴻⵏⵉ transliterated ar-Rammānī) is a Moroccan town in the region of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra. It is situated at approximately 60 km (40 Mi) southeast of Morocco's capital of Rabat an ...

between 1958 and 1959. However, he realized that he was not interested in pursuing a career in this work, and in 1964 he founded his own music group and launched a professional career in music. As a professional musician, he started first by singing in clubs and festivals, before being invited regularly to perform in Moroccan Television. His success in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

granted him the nickname of Jimi Hendrix of

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, as he mastered this instrument very well. Benomar Ziani collaborated with several Moroccan singers, including

Zohra Al Fassiya Zohra Al Fassiya ( ar, زهرة الفاسية, he, זוהרה אלפסיה) was a Moroccan singer and poet. Considered as the queen of the melhoun and gharnati genres, and one of the pioneers of modern Arabic music, she was the first female ...

Salim Halali Salim Halali or Salim Hilali ( ar, سليم الهلالي, birth name Simon Halali, 30 July 1920 – 25 June 2005) was an Algerian singer who performed Algerian music and Arabic Andalusian classical music. He was a pop singer rather than a prof ...

and

Samy Elmaghribi Samy Elmaghribi (born in 1922 as ''Salomon Amzallag'', in Safi, died on March 9, 2008) was a Jewish- Moroccan musician. He lived in Paris and Montreal. Originally from Safi, his family moved to Rabat in 1926. He started to familiarize himself with ...

.بنعمر الزياني وريموند البيضاوية يُمتعان جمهور ختام «الأندلسيات الأطلسية» في الصويرة - Acharq Awsat (2019) - in Arabic
/ref> He performed also abroad. One of his famous trips was in 1983, where he sang in

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

References

1938 births Musicians from Rabat 20th-century Moroccan male singers Living people {{Morocco-singer-stub