El Anka playing the mandolin

El Hajj Muhammad El Anka, (1907-1978) also known as Hadj Muhammed Al Anka, El-Hadj M'Hamed El Anka (and various other combinations), was considered The Grand Master of Algerian chaâbi music. Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

Early life

He was born on May 20, 1907, under the name Aît Ouarab Mohamed Idir Halo, on 4 Rue Tombouctou in the Casbah of Algiers. His family was originally from Béni Djennad (Tizi Ouzou Province); his father was Mohamed Ben HadJ Saîd, and his mother was Fatma Bent Boudjemaâ. May 20 is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Casbah (French) or as transliterated from Arabic Qasbah (from qasbah, قصبة, citadel) is specifically the citadel of Algiers and the traditional quarter clustered round it. ... “Alger” redirects here. ... Tizi Ouzou (Arabic: تيزي وزو , Berber : Tizi Wezzu) is a wilaya in Algeria. ...

His father was taken ill on the day of his birth, and had to be replaced by a maternal uncle for registering the birth, which caused an error recording his name. His uncle presented himself as such to the registry employee, by saying "Ana Khalou" ("I am his uncle" in Arabic), and the employee wrote "Halo". So he became Halo Mohamed Idir from then on. Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ...

He studied in three schools from 1912 to 1918: Koranic (1912-1914), Brahim Fatah (in the Casbah) from 1914-1917, and another in Bouzaréah until 1918. He left school to go to work before his 11th birthday. The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ...

Musical career

At the age of 13, the orchestra leader sheik Mustapha Nador noticed his passion and innate sense of rhythm at a festival his group was playing at, and took him on as a Tardji (tambourine player) with his orchestra. The sheik and orchestra taught him the mandolin, which became El Anka's favorite instrument. The tambourine, also known as the Marine, is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a a wooden or plastic frame with pairs of small metal jingles. ... A mandolin is a small, stringed musical instrument which is plucked, strummed or a combination of both. ...

After the death of sheik Nador on May 19, 1926, in Cherchell, El Anka took over the organization of festivals for the group. The orchestra included Si Saîd Larbi (real name Birou), Omar Bébéo (Slimane Allane) and Mustapha Oulid El Meddah among others. In 1927 he began taking part in the courses taught by sheik Sid AH Oulid Lakehal, which he followed assiduously until 1932. is the 139th day of the year (140th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Cherchell or Cherchel is a seaport of Algeria. ...

In 1928 he was first exposed to the general public, by recording 27 discs (78 rpm) for Columbia, his first publisher, and taking part in the inauguration of Radio PTT Algiers. On August 5 1931, popular sheik Abderrahmane Saîdi died, and El Anka helped to fill the void. His popularity, supported by the new record player and radio, only grew; he was once invited to perform for the King of Morocco. After Columbia, he made another 10 78 rpm disks with Algériaphone in 1932, and another ten 78 rpm records with Polyphone. Upon return from Mecca (in memory of which he composed the song "El Houdja") in 1937, he reformed his orchestra, and toured Algeria and France. August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...

After the Second World War, El HadJ Muhammad El Anka was invited to direct popular music on ENRS Algiers Radio which succeeded Radio PTT. The popular music he promoted from 1946 became "chaâbi". In 1955 he began teaching chaâbi as a professor at the municipal Academy of Algiers. His first pupils all became sheiks in their turn, including Amar Lâachab, Hassen Said, and Rachid Souki. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

In total, El Hadj El Anka wrote nearly 360 songs ( qaca' id ) and produced approximately 130 records. Notable works included "Lahmam lirabitou", "ltif Sebhan ellah ya" and "Win saâdi win". He died on November 23, 1978, in Algiers, and was buried in the cemetery of El-Kettar. November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

References

• El hadj Mohamed El Anka Much-copied "El ANKA M'Hamed" article from WebChaabi.com. In French.
• Hadj M'hamed El Anka : La légende du siècle Article by Karim Aïnouche, on "La Kabylie de Matoub LOUNES". In French.