Gnawa

"Gnawa" or "Gnaoua" (in Arabic چنّاوة) is a group of musicians who might be descendants of former slaves originating from Sub-Saharan Africa or came freely to Morocco with Caravans during the Trans-Saharan trade trade, or both. Their name in Arabic could possibily indicate that they came from the old Ghana Empire, which has no connection with modern day Ghana. The same word also refers to a small part of these people who are musicians and ritual healers and thus bringing the rite of African animism with them. Gnawas are considered to be experts in the treatment of scorpion stings and psychic disorders. They heal the disease by the use of colors, the perfumes and fright.

Gnawa music today

During the last few decades, gnawa music has been modernizing itself and thus becoming more profane. However, there are still many lilas organized privately and thus conserving its stautus of being a spiritual music.

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Within the framework of the Festival of Essaouira ("Gnaoua and Musiques of the World"), the gnawas play in a profane context where does not exist any more religious or therapeutic dimension. The art is brought back to the musical expression of their culture which they share with other musicians coming from the four corners of the world.

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With that, gnawa music is taking a new dimension by fusing its core spiritual music with similar genres like jazz, blues, reggae, hip-hop. Every summer (4 days in June), the Festival welcomes famous musicians that come to participate, exchange and mix their own music with the gnawa music creating one of the best jam sessions on the planet. Since its debut in 1998, and entirely free to the public, the audience of the festival has grown from 20,000 visitors to 200,000 in 2004 including 10,000 visitors from around the world.

Related Topics:
Jazz - Blues - Reggae - Hip-hop - 1998 - 2004

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Among the participants, you find musicians like Randy Weston, Adam Rudolph (Best World Music Artist by LA Weekly Music Awards 2003), The Wailers, Pharoah Sanders, Keziah Jones, Omar Sosa, Doudou N'Diaye Rose and the Italian trumpet player Paolo Fresu, to name a few.

Related Topics:
Randy Weston - Adam Rudolph - Pharoah Sanders - Keziah Jones - Omar Sosa - Doudou N'Diaye Rose - Italian - Paolo Fresu

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There are also projects like "The Sudani Project" which is a jazz/gnawa dialogue activated in the collaboration of saxophonist/composer Patrick Brennan, Gnawi maâlem Najib Sudani, and drummer/percussionist/vocalist Nirankar Khalsa. "The krakebs and the guembri, being metal and gut bass strings, are parallels to the cymbal and bass in the jazz sound. I liked the kind of polyrhythmic relationship between them, and that's part of what I began to incorporate into my own writing, multilevelled rhythm being one of my favorite orchestral preoccupations. And, the gnawa "bass" is so melodic and up front"., Brennan commented.

Related Topics:
Cymbal - Jazz - Polyrhythmic

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Since a few years, new young musicians, from different backgrounds and nationalities, started to form modern gnawa bands. "Gnawa Diffusion" from France and "Gnawa Impulse" from Germany are examples. They offer a rich mix of musical and cultural backgrounds, fusing their individual influences into a collective sound. They have woven elements of rap, reggae, jazz and rai into a vibrant musical patchwork.

Related Topics:
Rap - Reggae - Jazz - Rai

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