Ahl Nana’s music was almost lost to history. The family band, who called themselves L’Orchestre National Mauritanien, had a fundamental role in creating what we now call desert blues, laying the groundwork for artists like Tinariwen and Mdou Moctar by introducing Western instruments into traditional Saharan music. In the 1970s, they were among the most well-known groups in northwestern Africa. Still, it was not common in their native Mauritania to record albums, as music spread largely through concerts and radio performances. Ahl Nana only entered the studio through an extraordinary series of coincidences, and their recordings only survived through an amazing amount of luck.
Now, a compilation of Ahl Nana’s music has been released by Radio Martiko after label head Mechiel Vanbelle rediscovered those lost recordings after more than fifty years. “It all started when we were playing in Agadir, in the south of Morocco,” Mouna Mint Nana tells Vanbelle in the liner notes of Ahl Nana: L’Orchestre National Mauritanien. “A local minister [a politician – Ed.] who was a big fan of us wanted us to play for King Hassan II, so he interrupted the live broadcast of the TV news to present the band and to ask the king to invite us.” A military plane flew Ahl Nana from Agadir to Fez, where they played a nationally televised festival in honor of the king. Ali Boussif, owner of Morocco’s legendary Boussiphone label, saw the concert and invited the band to record at his studio in Casablanca.
 
Released February 3, 2023