Gnawa or Never

It is difficult to record Gnawa music well – the sonic mix of the gimbri's (lute) deep bass and the high, insistent metallic percussion of the qaraqab (metal castanets) are difficult to balance, and successful extant recordings focus on more intimate solo voice and gimbri performances. This digital release focuses on the repertoire of traditional songs that comprise a lila, the night-long ceremonial heart of Gnawa culture, including songs related to the seven colours associated with different spirits that may be raised by the music.
In a full lila ceremony, these 12 songs included here are played for far longer, so what listeners get with these superb recordings – produced by London-based Moroccan multi-instrumentalist, producer and DJ U-Cef with Jason Emberton in Marrakech in 2011 – is a compact, visceral and beautiful introduction to the core Gnawa repertoire. Maalem Damir has a powerful, abrasive voice, with his backing musicians maalem Said Kouyou and Hassan Gadiri in full spate on supporting vocals and the guiding rhythms of the qaraqab, so that they sound like a full 14-piece Gnawa troupe. Feel the force: there's plenty of Gnawa fusion albums in the racks, but this is a superbly rendered distillation of the real thing.