GNAWA MUSIC HISTORY AND INFORMATION COME AND DISCOVER
Gnawa music is very rhythmic and is characterized by a ridge dialogued in which the voice of Maalem performs invocations and is answered by the chorus. Dances are also very rhythmic.
Participants tend to shake their head in circles, a movement that spreads to the rest of the body, then they turn on themselves, the way of the dervishes.
Continuing the traditions of these past years, many international artists are surrounded by the charm of this music: catchy rhythms and songs full of energy taken from the syncretism between the culture of former black slaves and Islam Maghreb (citing, among others, Randy Weston, Led Zeppelin, Paul Simon …) the favorite Spanish travelers and the international jet set, Yves Saint Laurent, Alain Delon and Omar Sharif are just some.
Seductive as any, its name originated in the country from the past. The city’s origins are obscure, but it is commonly accepted that it began as a military camp established by Abu Bakr, Almoravid leader, in 1070. His successor, Ben Yusef Tachfin is who started the task of converting the primitive oasis in a capital worthy of his empire, which stretched from the Atlantic to Algeria and from the Sahara to the Ebro Almohad conquest in which time almost all the first buildings disappeared, they were replaced by others, many of which we can still admire: the majestic Koutoubia, twin tower of the Giralda in Seville.
Not forgetting the fabulous Square ‘Jemaa El Fna’ declared “World Cultural Heritage” by UNESCO. In Morocco you can stay with the percussionist, who will accompany you during your visit and that will help you make the most of every chance that Morocco offers.
The term Gnawa has important meanings. First, referring to black people who were enslaved in West Africa. It is commonly believed that Gnawa of Morocco were black slaves who eventually became a symbol of the culture of this country. Historians believe that the black population Gnawa came from West Africa -Senegal from Chad and Mali in the north and in the south of Nigeria.
These slaves were called groups “Gnawa”.
The Gnawa Maghreb are members of a number of Muslim mystical brotherhoods, descendants of black slaves deported from the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab rulers and Berbers of Algeria and Morocco, and especially the latter were taken from different regions of West Africa (Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria and Guinea) bound for their armies and to build cities and strongholds.The âalem (teacher) is the medium, the musical and spiritual authority of Gnawa music, the goumbri is his baton control tool that is attributed healing power of body and soul, the djoun repelling (evil spirits), which can lead to Gnawa trance at night.
The goumbri is a bass with three strings, made from the intestines of a male goat and hollowed wood covered with camel skin, which has a characteristic sound and powerful bass and percussion and is played using a curved stick. Another instrument used is the tbel or (drum), and grageb,( metal castanets). In the great tradition of Africa everything related to music has been passed down orally. Babatunde Olatunji (1927-2003), a Nigerian drummer who lived and worked in the United States, developed a simple series of spoken sounds for teaching the rhythms of the hand drum. Used six vocal sounds: Goon Doon Go Do Pa Ta. There are three basic sounds on the drum, but each can be played with the left hand or the right. This simple system is now used worldwide, particularly by Djembe players.
It should be noted that the debate over the appropriateness of staff notation for African music is a subject of particular interest to uninitiated outsiders. African scholars from Kyagambiddwa to Congo have for the most part accepted the conventions and limitations of staff notation and gone to make transcripts to inform and to enable a higher level of reflection and debate. During the past fifty years in North Africa, Gnawa music, has spread and has attracted professionals from other ethnic groups, in this case, Berber and Arabic.
MUSIC AND PERCUSSION WORKSHOPS AND RETREATS