I’ve just returned from a bucket-list trip to the Gnaoua Music Festival which takes place yearly in Essaioura, a breezy coastal town in Morocco. I was first introduced to this genre of music, also known as Gnawa, over thirty years ago. An album called Night Spirit Masters: Gnawa Music of Marrakesh produced by the late Bill Laswell literally entranced me. Decades later, I finally made it to the festival together with my husband Stephen.
One of the features of this festival is that some of the concerts are collaborations between Moroccan masters of traditional Gnaoua music known as Ma’alems and international musicians playing a variety of genres. A Maalem is usually the lead singer and plays a bass-like stringed instrument called a Guembri. Below, a shot taken in a Gnawa Music store in Essaouira. The owner Hajoub demonstrated the Guembri. Behind him are rows of the metal percussion instruments called qaraqueb.
On the opening evening of the festival I was privileged to catch an incredible fusion concert featuring artists from Morocco, The Ivory Coast, Spain and Brazil. The participating Brazilian act were Ilê Aiyê, an Afro-bloco carnival group from Salvador, Bahia,
We’d spent a week in Morocco prior to the festival. The day before the opening ceremony, at a cafe on the Medina, I was sitting on a stool facing the window and saw some brightly dressed people walking past. I recognised them as members of Ilê Aiyê and told my husband that I was going to try and catch up with them:
The following morning I was walking along the seafront when once again I spotted some of the musicians:
I reintroduced myself and they posed for some photos – here’s a group shot:
Next a series of images taken during a daytime performance by the group on Day 2 of the Festival at The Sqala, a historic fortress by the port of Essaouira:
Ilê Aiyê have been touring Europe and are playing London’s Barbican Centre this coming Friday 26 July alongside Margareth Menezes. I’m looking forward to seeing them again!
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