GNAWA STREAM V: HOMETOWNS, FESTIVALS AND INSTRUMENTS

Main Index Blog Intro

        

GNAWA INDEX

Gnawa's hypnotic music has several

connotations throughout Africa:

Diwan (Djazair), Stambali (Tunisia),

Zar (Sudan). Why?

You can see a snapshot of this historical map

and its origin from Gnawa Stories.

The Kingdoms of Ghana (a

Soninke word for 'king')

and Mali were unimaginably

vast, and well-known.

Regional caravanserai roads cross them like old

weathered veins if you saw them aerially.

So dark-skinned were these

incoming, enslaved Africans that

their lands were called 'akal-ignawen'

(...Gnawa and Their Origin)

 and this community Gnawa, from the

Tamazight word 'ignawen'.

They were Fula ('Foulani Hiriza') Hausa,

Soninke, Toubou and more.


Super Onze

One recently discovered ancestral city

was a medieval capital of

the Soninke empire, Wagadu (Gnawa: Music

and Spirit/Kwasi Konadu).

It's in southeastern Mauritania.

Gnawa roots reach as far as Lake Chad...

Here is an updated Google Map with Kumbi Saleh.


Maalem Abdellah El Gourd and Mustapha Bakbou

Did you know that many master musicians

play multiple styles and their

troupe may play other ones

altogether, like Gnawa de Bruxelles

(Marsaoui and Shamali)?

Women are also integral and visible members

in lila ceremonies nowadays.

They join Gnawa troupes and even lead them!

 


RITUAL REMINDERS

Treq or song order is supernaturally relevant!

You should never cut songs for shorter length

or re-arrange them, so we are mindful

about this during this series.


Lila ritual order (Music of the Gnawa of Morocco:

Evolving Spaces and Times, pg. 220)

Adepts or devotees enter an ecstatic hal or

jedba state through the lila's maalem,

and they are given cool floral water (Moroccan

Gnawa and Transglobal Trance).

INSTRUMENTS

Hard sahla and flexible tarrach sticks are

used for tbal, large goat-skin

headed drums from West Africa.

This central percussion piece's alternate

name is ganga (Yoruba 'gangan',

one of six important drums).


Gangan (left), ganga (right)

Both have high traditional significance.

Learn about the Ìlu Gángan (YouTube).


Krakeb or karkabou (metal castanets), ganga (talking drums), guembri
(three-stringed lute), and shashiya (cowrie shell caps)

This audial alchemy creates Gnawa's chaotic yet peaceful sound.

HOMETOWNS AND STYLES REVISITED

AGADIR


Aerial Agadir from the mountain

Tairelile (Yassine Enissay) is a

great Gnawa group here.

He has been our friend like Mohamed

Errebbaa for some years,

and we are humbled by their collective skills!


Group Tairelile (Yassine (center))

This is Agadir: vibrant, coastal, mountainous.

Then there is Samir LanGus from Agadir: extremely

well-versed in Gnawa's styles no matter which one.

And Ismkhan Moutanass perform fabulously:

a desert-based ethnic group who usually only play krakeb.

DIWAN

This Algerian style is actually a primary source for Gnawa today.

the Moroccan-Algerian border within the Sahara.

Many masters come from Algeria:

Hasna el Becharia

and her father to Maalem Benaissa, Benouda.

Maalem Benaissa Bahaz was an Algiers-born

virtuoso who played, made

and instructed on guembris in the diwan

expression (Algerie Press Service).

He led Diwan Dzair and paved the way

for Gaada Diwan Bechar, etc.

Maalem Benaissa's Bio

GHARBAOUI/SHAMALI

We touched upon Maalem El Gourd's prolific career

and Maalem Rida Stitou in Different Gnawa Styles.

They learned Gnawa from very young ages and

would absorb its teachings as a lifestyle.

Welcome to Tangier, the northern Moroccan tip.

Tangier musicians have an entrenched reputation as tagnawit holders.

MEKNASSI

Maalem el Meknassi is one musician we've highlighted!

This suite is for the dark forest spirits (Malin al-ghaba).

A new live video? You bet.

RABATI

ROUDANI

Mehdi Nassouli combined his beloved

Taroudant's lore and multi-

cultural influences for distinct Gnawa (Qwest.tv).

Daqqa Marrakchia, Amazigh and Andalusian genres, malhun

preceded apprenticeship over 10 years!

This lila with Maalem Kardoudi took place in 2012.

And Taroudant had its first Gnawa festival

last year, 2019. Mehdi Nassouli

and Gnawa Souss were among the honored guests.

SOUSSIA

GNAWA AND DIASPORIC AFRICAN POWER  GNAWA LIVE STREAM I ()

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Gnawi in Tangier, 1935.