To explore Amazigh music in a variety
of styles, languages, and regions,
check out samples, musician bios and
CDs from basic bluesy Tartit to ’70s-
funky Tinariwen at www.azawan.com.
Gnawa
Joyously bluesy with a rhythm you can’t refuse, this music may send you into a trance – and
that’s just what it’s meant to do. The brotherhood of Gnawa began among freed slaves in
Marrakesh and Essaouira as a ritual of deliverance from slavery and into God’s graces. A true
Gnawa lila , or spiritual jam session, may last all night, with musicians erupting into leaps of joy
as they enter trance-like states of ecstasy that can send fez-tassels spinning and set spirits
free.
Join the crowds watching in Marrakesh’s Djemaa el-Fna or at the annual Gnaoua and World
Music Festival in Essaouira, and hear Gnawa on Peter Gabriel’s Real World music label.
Gnawa mâalem s (master musicians) include perennial festival favourites Abdeslam Alikkane
and his Tyour Gnaoua, crossover fusion superstar Hassan Hakmoun, rising star mâalem Saïd
Boulhimas and his deeply funky Band of Gnawas, Indian-inflected Nass Marrakech and reggae-
inspired Omar Hayat. Since Gnawa are historically a brotherhood, most renowned Gnawa
musicians have been men – but the all-women Sufi group Haddarates plays Gnawa tran-ces
traditionally reserved for women, and family acts include Brahim Elbelkani and La Famille
Backbou.
Berber Folk Music
There’s plenty of other indigenous Moroccan music besides Gnawa, thanks to the ancient
Berber tradition of passing along songs and poetry from one generation to the next. You can’t
miss Berber music at village moussem s (festivals in honour of a local saint), Agadir’s Timtar
Festival of Amazigh music, the Marrakesh Popular Arts Festival and Imilchil’s Marriage Festival,
as well as weddings and other family celebrations.
The most renowned Berber folk group is the Master
Musicians of Joujouka, who famously inspired the Rolling
Stones, Led Zeppelin and William S Burroughs, and
collaborated with them on experimental fusion with lots of
clanging and crashing involved. Lately the big names are
women’s, including the all-woman group B’net Marrakech and
the bold Najat Aatabou, who sings protest songs in Berber
against restrictive traditional roles. For more women vocalists,
head to Tetouan for the Voix des Femmes (Women’s Voices) festival.
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO MO’ROCK, WE SALUTE YOU
Not since Ozzy bit a live bat onstage has hard rock caused such an uproar. In 2003, police who didn’t appreciate being rocked
like a hurricane arrested 11 Moroccan metal-heads for making their audiences ‘listen, with bad intent, to songs which
contravene good morals or incite debauchery’. Despite widespread protests that authorities were driving the crazy train, the
rockers were ultimately sentenced to one year in jail for ‘employing seductive methods with the aim of undermining the faith of
a Muslim’.
But diehard Moroccan metalheads got organised, calling all rockers to the mosh-pit in Sidi Kacem, an inland agricultural
centre near Meknès better known for braying donkeys than wailing guitars. The second SidiRock festival was held in February
2008, showcasing bands from the area with names sure to warm any true metalhead’s heart, if not a mullah’s, including