Post date: Jan 31, 2012 1:41:55 PM
A Mauritanian music enthusiast has built a miniature musical empire in the capital Nouakchott, collecting rare recordings from musicians across West Africa from as early as the 1960s. Customers come from far and wide to get copies of his collection and listen to classics over a cup of Mauritanian tea.
NOUAKCHOTT, MAURITANIA (REUTERS) - On a dusty street in Mauritania's capital Nouakchott, sits the 'Saphire of Gold' record shop. Its owner, Mohamed Vall, has collected music for the past 30 years from across the world, much of it dating back to the 60s and 70s.
Today he has become something of a legend in Mauritania and a well kept secret among music aficionados from all over West Africa who come from far and wide to rifle through the old records in his collection.
Some say his little shop is one of the only places in the region to pick up rare folk, traditional and soul music from African artists of decades gone by.
He also has old classics from the world's biggest artists.
"If you're looking for the Rolling Stones, I have all their main stuff. If you're looking for Cat Stevens, I have some of his albums. If you're looking for Tina (Turner), I have some of her stuff. My strength is perhaps that with other collectors you can find maybe one disk or cassette. But for the big groups I have most of their main stuff here," Vall told Reuters, speaking from the floor of his tiny shop.
Every day Vall travels from his home to his shop where he spends the best part of the day sifting though his collection, entering new purchases onto a computer for reference and helping customers learn more about what he has in his store.
"I come in to search stuff from the past that dates back 20 years or so, we come to see Mohamed Vall because he's like a big brother to us, he's the one who taught us what we know about music and he doesn't stop showing us new stuff. The atmosphere here is different from other places, here we listen to music, we discuss, we tease each other. There's always something to say," said Sidi, a regular customer.
Tea drinking is a big part of the day's activities and as Vall's young assistant makes customers something to quench their thirst with, Vall himself will play a selection of the records on his shelves for everyone to drink along to.
Among the record sleeves decorating the walls of the shop are old South African Jazz vinyl, rare French African soul and folk disks and hundreds of early hip hop and reggae tracks from the late 70s and 80s.
More often than not, it's Vall who picks a record off the shelf and gives it to his customers to sample.
"Sometimes he says to me "come here, listen to that," listen to that because it's not in a genre that I'm familiar with. He'll suggest something to me, I listen, I enjoy the time, sometimes I reject it but most of the time I take it," said Mamadou Sambou, another regular customer.
"Thanks to Vall, I've rediscovered Lalo Keba, who I've always really liked," he added.
Like many West African countries, traditional music is an integral part of Mauritanian culture, much of it coming from the largest ethnic group in the country, the Moors.
In the past, musicians were considered part of society's lowest 'caste' and were used to praise warriors and pay homage to important leaders.
These days, musicians still struggle to make a living in the country and often rely on other work to fund their instruments and performances.