"Frédéric el Hamdouchi"

A few videos of Fred, who is working on mudbrick house in Ouled Mgatel - he's brave, believe me, it's very hot in Morocco.
First, his last time on Moroccan TV(I can't remember the name of the show). And for the first time, he's singing alone :

And then, an old video put online by our friend Mickaël (thanks!)

Fred's adventures in Morocco: a tour of Sidi Ali, and a video

Last year, Fred worked on a projet for a big website devoted to the sufi brotherhood he works with, the Hamadcha brotherhood.

We had no news of the website, but we learned a few days ago that it was online - finally.

It's in Arabic, but here are the highlights of the site.

First, the virtual tour of the two mausoleums of the most important saints of the brotherhood, in two villages near Meknes. (The wonderful 360 degrees panoramas were made by Sylvain.)
First, you have the mausoleum of Sidi Ali Ben Hamdouch, the founding saint of the Hamadchas.

The other mausoleum is that of Sidi Ahmed Dghoughi, Sidi Ali Ben Hamdouch's follower.



And, when you're done with those great pictures, go see Fred's video on the same website. You'll note his wonderful haircut (I don't know what happened), and also that his name on the url has been somehow hispanicized, from "Calmès" to "Golmez" (I don't what happened either - but after all, Fred's grandfather was from the south of France, so I guess that's close enough).

The Hamadcha of Fez: Transmission of a Precious Heritage

They are between ten and sixteen years-old.
They live in Fez.
Their grand-fathers, and their great-grand-fathers before them were Hamadcha, Moroccan sufis.
Their fathers too.

But their parents never encouraged them to take this road. That is, to become Hamadchas. Because it doesn't pay well, because it's not prestigious.

It was without counting on the passion of one man, Abderrahim Amrani Marrakchi, and on the energy of those kids.


So, are you wearing your djellaba and your babouches? Yes? Let's enter this mysterious house in the medina of Fez.




And let's get carried away by the music of the Hamadcha. (by the way, I hope you like to dance)













(in case you don't know, Fred has been working with the brotherhood for several years. If you want to know more about it, go on his website).

Two French Musicians in Fez: Les Frères F. Toussaint meet the Hamadcha brotherhood

Julien and Manu, a.k.a the F. Toussaint Brothers, friends from our hometown Nancy, are currently in residence at Dar Batha (the French Institute of Fez).
And yesterday we saw the result of this encounter.
Hamadcha danse and music, mixed with Manu's bass and Julien's crazy percussion.

Great night.

Angham, and Ouled Mgatel's most famous inhabitant

Fred on Angham (a Moroccan TV program), a few months ago. Speaking Arabic, and talking about the Hamadcha.

Or, how he became famous...

Famous !

People in the street tell him they love him.

People recognize him, wherever we go.

His Facebook will soon explode...

And this week I got plenty of new reader who found their way to my blog by googling his name.

And why, you ask me?

Because of that. And if you live in Morocco, or if you have 2M Monde, you can watch it too, Friday afternoon.

So when you’ll see him in the street, you’ll recognize him too…

Fred playing at the Fez festival

12/21 : and what happened Friday when we went back to France?

We took a taxi in Fez, and the driver recognized Fred.

At the airport, the policeman who checked the passeports recognized Fred.

And in the plane? Well, of course, the steward recognized Fred.