MOROCCAN ROLL

"The Sentir Is ... A Whole Civilization" BY JEFFREY CALLEN

uring the last decade, the sound event. The sound of the sentir orchestrates the a of the sentir has become interaction between the spirit and the afflicted. Jl" a pervasive presence in North Melodies played on the sentir summon the spirit ~ . The sentir (m'luk)--each m'luk has his or her own song. (a three-string bass lute also The constant, insistent clatter of the qaraqebs known as hajhouj and gimbri) is the iconic (large metal hand cymbals or castanets) provides instrument of the Gnawa and an integral part of the background to the sentir's foreground, pro­ the healing ceremonies developed by these viding a sonic field through which the spirit and descendants of West African slaves (similar the afflicted most find their way to the melody traditions were also established in Algeria, and each other. They come together in a trance Tunisia and Libya). The move of state and find a reconciliation in which the af­ into the pop world began in the 1970s with the flicted person's distress is relieved. work of the folk-revival band , In , there are many recordings avail­ which brought together instruments from a able that can give you a firm grounding in the variety of Moroccan traditions. Pan of the agenda sound and aesthetic of the Gnawa sentir. If you of Nass el Ghiwane and the folk-revival bands find yourself perusing the selections ofcassettes that followed in their wake was a rediscovery of primer on Gnawa fusion. During the last decade and cds in a souk, look for recordings by the in­ Morocco's African roots and so it was natural a new generation of North African musicians comparable Maalem Mahmoud Guinia (also that Gnawa music would playa major role. Larbi from outside the Gnawa tradition have discov­ spelled Ghania). Maalem Hamid el Kasri's Batma of Nass el Ghiwane said the sentir was ered Gnawa music and moved the deep bass reso­ multi-cassette set of recordings from the differ­ integral to the mission of his band since its sound nance of the Gnawa sentir from the margins into ent suites that make up a lila (coded by their as­ evoked "a whole civilization." Chants Gnawa du the mainstream. However, if you want to fully sociated colors) also offers an excellent intro­ Maroc (Buda 824682) provides a taste of Nass appreciate what these young musicians in Mo­ duction into the Gnawa aesthetic (produced by el Ghiwane's use of the sentir. rocco, Algeria and are doing, it's good to the -based SACAV: Societe Artistique et At about the same time, Western musicians step back and take a look at the ritual music of CulturelleAudio Visuelle). Here in the West, it's were discovering Africa in the sound of the sentir. the Gnawa. a bit more difficult but the five-volume set The A few years earlier, American musician The ancestors of the Gnawa religious order Masters ofGuimbri, released on the AI Sur Ia­ had come to and heard were brought to Morocco as slaves and merce­ bel in the 1990s, offers one of the best introduc­ the roots ofjazz in the music of the Gnawa-his nary soldiers from the former Mali Empire in tions. You can't go wrong with any of the vol­ '90s recording The Splendid Master Gnawa Mu­ West Africa beginning in the 16th century. The umes but my personal favorite is volume five: sicians ofMorocco (Polygram 52187) exempli­ West African roots of the Gnawa can be seen in The Dark and Yellow Suites (AI Sur 148) that fies the fruits of his collaborations with Gnawa the organization of their religious and healing offers up some intense listening in songs dedi­ maalem (master) Abdullah el Gourd. ceremonies (and the dances performed during cated to the spirits of the forest (the Dark or Black Over the following decades, other Western them) that share more with the rituals of West Suite) and female spirits (the Yellow Suite). musicians came to play with Gnawa musicians African hunting societies than they do with those If you're up for a more ethnographic approach, and felt they were tapping into their own musi­ of other Muslim religious orders in North Af­ you can begin your fieldwork by sampling the cal history. When British rockers rica. The belief system of the Gnawa blends Is­ wide variety of lila performances available on and came to Marrakech to record a lam with West African religions and many of the YouTube. If you want to learn a bit about the "roots" album in the '90s with Gnawa musicians, spirits (djinns) in the Gnawa pantheon are closely construction and some beginning tips on play­ they felt the connection to the African-Ameri­ related to West African spirits, others bear the ing the sentir check out Yassir Chadly's can roots of their music was so strong that they names ofWest African tribes. The history of sla­ "Guimbri 101" YouTube clip. Chadly, who has warmed up with the Gnawa musicians by sing­ very is a subject of some of their songs and is made his home in the U.S. since the late 1970s, ing field hollers of the American South. The 1994 also powerfully referenced by their patron saint is also an engaging storyteller and checking out album No Quarter (Atlantic 82706), which re­ Bital al-Habashi, the freed Ethiopian slave, who ·a few of his clips is hardly a waste of time. sulted from this "field" trip, is worth a listen but became the Prophet Mohamed's first muezzin In addition to some nice sentir work by Miialem better yet check out the video of the performance (caller to prayer). Brahim el Belkani, Wijdan: Le Mystere de to of "City Don't Cry" from the 2004 dvd release Central to Gnawa musical practice are all­ Musique de Transe des Gnawa, a new dvd re­ of No Quarter: Unledded (Rhino 970324), avail­ night ceremonies known as Was (literally: lease on Mondomix (MOI03), provides a fasci­ able on YouTube which features Miialem Brahim "night"). The purpose of a lila is to secure peace nating glimpse into the West African roots of the el Belkani (see review of the newly-released of mind and cure the physical or spiritual ail­ Gnawa tradition. The 52-minute film documents video Wijdan below). ments of participants through pleasing benefi­ an encounter between Gnawa Miialem Belkani of In the 1990s, a handful of Gnawa miialems cent spirits and assuaging malicious spirits who Marrakech and Sibiri Samake, a griot from Mali. began to further explore the shared roots of have inhabited a person or place. The lila has a Samake, like Belkani, plays for healings but his Gnawa music with the and jazz. Repeating set order of songs and a desired atmosphere of spiritual tradition is animist, not Muslim, making last month's admonition, check out Saba Koyo's colors, scents and aromas but the sound of the the musical and spiritual parallels all the more Hamid el Gnawi (Elektra/Asylum 20955) for a sentir is the lynchpin, the sine qua non of the fascinating. In December 2002, the two musicians

10 THE BEAT VOL. 27 #3, 2008 MOROCCAN ROLL

and their troupes came together in Marrakech to It includes a jazzy version of the Gnawa song prepare for a series of concerts in France under "Mimouna," which has become a standard of the name Wijdan. The focus on the Gnawa tradi­ North African pop over the last decade. If you're tion-wijdan means "ecstasy" in ; a lan­ up for some more research, collecting and com­ guage Samake does not understand-but the film paring the many versions of "Mimouna" by pop offers a well-nuanced look into the shared roots bands and traditional Gnawa bands would be and practices (musical and spiritual) of the two something I'd love to hear about. traditions, as well as their divergences. Samake's hunter's harp and Belkani's sentir have different o (j) (l) sonorities but when they mesh together, you hear Musical collaborations between musicians an underlying commonality in the mel"odic pat­ from different cultures that feel like meetings or terns and rhythms. conversations, not "" searches for The film also points out changes in the two raw material, are becoming more common. Two traditions that have resulted from their encoun­ new cds, which document musical meetings be­ ter with modernity. In the not-so-distant past, it tween West African and Western musicians, fall would not have been likely for two troupes from into this category. The first, Soul Science (World such different religious traditions to perform to­ Village 468076), brings together British guitar­ gether as a single ensemble. Additionally, both ist Justin Adams and Gambian master musician Belkani and Samake came to their careers as Juldeh Camara. You might remember Adams musical healers by choice, which would have from his early '90s guitar work with Jab Wobble's been unthinkable (or at least very unusual) in Invaders of the Heart but he has been exploring what were traditionally hereditary positions. encounters between the blues and African mu­ Belkani was one of the maalems who helped sics on his own since the late '90s. Soul Science spread knowledge of Gnawa music beyond the More influential than the efforts of Moroccan came about after Camara heard Adams' Desert borders of Morocco with his collaborations with musicians in bringing the sentir into the main­ Road (World Village 468009) and contacted Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (mentioned above). stream, and more easily available in the West, Adams to suggest that they record together. The If Wijdan leaves you hungry for more of have been the efforts of French North African result was a satisfying collaboration that meshes Samake's music, check out Mali: Music ofthe bands that began the new wave of Maghrebi roots Adams' guitar work with Camara's ritti (one­ Hunters (Buda 3017072). Belkani also has ap­ music in the '90s, which then spread to Morocco string fiddle) and gologo (relative of the ). peared on recordings of Gnawa music, indud­ and Algeria. The most influential French North The second cd is Markus James' new album ing the -produced Gnawa Music of African band was Gnawa Diffusion, led in sev­ Snakeskin Violin (Firenze FROD 122), which has -Night Spirit Masters (Axiom 314­ eral different iterations by bandleader Amazigh been spending a lot of time on my digital turn­ 510 147- 2). Ketab, who handles the sentir chores himself on table. Virginia-born James mentions two trans­ After you've steeped yourself in the traditional numerous tracks on the five memorable albums formative experiences that influenced his music. sound of the sentir and explored its roots, it's time the band has produced since 1997's Algeria As a small boy, he was captured by the sound of to listen to how musicians from outside the Gnawa (Sonodisc 7370). Algeria demonstrated the di­ the blues performed by a street musician in Bal­ tradition are incorporating it into their music. versity of approaches Gnawa Diffusion takes to timore. Then, dUring a trip to Mali in the '90s, a Moroccan pop musicians have been enthusiasti­ Gnawa music-check out "Algeria" for a serendipitous meeting with the legendary Ali cally bringing the sound of the sentir into their straight-ahead roots approach and the jazzy Farka Toure helped seal his musical direction. music for a decade now. The sound of the sentir­ "Gnawi Babi Mimoun" where a traditional sentir Since 2001, James has released four recordings sometimes replicated on electric bass or key­ pattern morphs into a Jaco-inflected funk riff. On of his musical meetings with Malian musicians. board-is an important element of the music of other tracks, Gnawa Diffusion blends Gnawa While all are satisfying listens, Snakeskin Violin fusion bands such as Hoba Hoba Spirit, Darga and aesthetics with ragga and rock sensibilities. is the most successful in capturing the musical Askouri. !t-'s also making its way into hip-hop with The music of Gaada Diwan Bechar, also conversations between James and musicians in the work ofgroups like Fnaire. Although it is hard based in France, creates a virtual meeting place Mali (and Mississippi). The highlights ofSnake­ to obtain recordings by these artists outside ofMo­ for Algeria's Arab, Amazight and West African skin Violin are the collaborations between James rocco, all have clips on YouThbe. Darga's Web musical traditions. "Diwan" is the Algerian (on guitar) and Mamadou Sidibe (on kamele page (http://www.darga.info) includes some equivalent ofMorocco's Gnawa tradition and the ngoni, an adaptation of a Wassalou hunter's harp samples from their two albums-check out the sound of the sentir is given a prominent place in similar to the instrument played by Sibiri Samake straight-ahead Gnawa tracks (labeled "gnawi") the oeuvre of Gaada Diwan Bechar. Their acous­ on Wijdan). The stripped-down feel of the tracks then try out "Mimouna," their transformation of a tically-driven music is reminiscent of the Mo­ highlights the shared aesthetics of West African traditional Gnawa song that draws as heavily upon roccan folk-revival bands of the '70s that cre­ and African-American musics. As numerous re­ Jamaican as Moroccan influences. The journey ated a similar meeting place for Morocco's dif­ viewers have noted, James' guitar work shows of the sentir has also found its way into the cul­ ferent musical traditions. Gaada Diwan Bechar the heavy influence of Ali Farka Toure and tural mainstream: Last year, the centerpiece of has produced three albums and all are worth American bluesman John Lee Hooker. Toure told telecom company Wana's media campaign was checking out. Markus James that the first time he heard Hooker pop singer and producer Elam Jay's rap/Gnawa Not to be forgotten in the list of North Afri­ he thought he was Malian: a point to remember. song "Gnaouitone" that featured Mohamed can bands that have brought the sound of the While it's easy to look at recordings like Soul Derham on the Gnawa vocals. The sentir has be­ sentir into 21st century pop music is Paris' in­ Science and Snakeskin Violin as rediscoveries, come so fashionable that some bourgeois Moroc­ imitable Orchestre National de Barbes, who it's good to remember how long the conversa­ cans have taken the 'ud, associated with the high began shaking up North African and French pop tions across the Atlantic have been going on. culture of the Arab east, down from their parlor music in 1998 with their En Concert album (Tin­ walls and replaced it with a sentir. der), a must for any North African cd collection. [Jeffrey Callen: [email protected] J

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