The qnawa are the descendants of the black African slaves that were brought into the Maghreb from the 17th century onwards. They venerate the memory of Bilal Ibn Rabah, an Abyssinian Christian slave that was freed and who became the Prophet’s muezzin and one of his most loyal companions. Bilal is said to have been the first person who recited the adhan, the call for prayer, in public.

I have been a fan of gnawa music for a long, long time and have just found a new album that I would like to recommend to anyone reading this blog. It is called Gnawa Home Songs, a collective recording that has been made in a homy atmosphere in Tamesloht. This is a first-ever gathering of some great Moroccan voices, such as Hamid Kasri, Amida & Hassan Boussou, Abdelkebir Merchane, Abdelkebir Amlil and Zef Zaf, who also sings in Bambara. This is simply a fantastic album to all those who can easily forget yourselves into the incantatory blues of the gnawa.

It would be great to attend a gnawa festival, or even better, a lila, which is a complex and intimate and fairly ecstatic combination of music and dance practised by the brotherhood. As I will soon have the opportunity to visit Marrakesh again, at least I will buy myself a couple of pairs of qaraqib, those neat metal castanets used to produce that profound trance-like beat to the qnawa music.

On two different occasions I have seen the Malian singer Rokia Traore perform her fantastic music, a combination of traditional Bamana heritage and modern vocals. And what a great dancer she is! Her newest album Tchamantche is now released and once again she is giving a concert in Brussels, on Saturday 14th of June at Botanique (Orangerie 20.00) – don’t miss it!

If you are in Brussels on the 23rd of June make sure you don’t miss the free concert by the Algerian group Gnawa Diffusion.

Venue: Place Saint-Jean Babtiste, Molenbeek. In case you have never heard of them before, click here for a good summary by a fellow blogger Radu and listen to a sample of their music.

TassourT is another blog in which you can listen to a nice selection of gnawa – enjoy!