Gnawa music mixes classical Islamic
Sufism with pre-Islamic African folk traditions. The term
Gnawa musicians generally refers to people who also practice
healing rituals. The healing rituals have apparent ties to pre-Islamic African
animism rites known as
Bori in the Hausa culture. In Moroccan popular culture, Gnawas, through their ceremonies, are considered to be experts in the magical treatment of
scorpion stings and
mental illness. They heal diseases by the use of colors, condensed cultural imagery, perfumes and fright. Gnawas play deeply
hypnotic trance music marked by low-toned, rhythmic melodies played on a skin-covered lute called a
sintir or
guembri. The method, similar to
garaya in Hausa traditional music, involves
call-and-response singing, hand-clapping, and
cymbals called
krakeb (plural of
karkaba). Gnawa ceremonies use music and dance to evoke ancestral saints who are said to perform the healing. Gnawa music has won an international profile and appeal. Many
Western musicians, including
Bill Laswell,
Brian Jones,
Randy Weston,
Adam Rudolph,
Klaus Doldinger,
Tucker Martine,
Robert Plant,
Jacob Collier and
Jimmy Page, have drawn on and collaborated with Gnawa musicians such as brothers
Mahmoud Guinia and
Mokhtar Gania of Essaouira, brothers
Mustapha Baqbou &
Ahmed Baqbou,
Abdelkebir Merchane,
Brahim Belkani, all from Marrakesh, as well as
Hamid El Kasri and
Abdelkader Amlil of Rabat and the late
Ahmida Boussou and
Saïd Oughassal of Casablanca, who have all participated at the annual festival in
Essaouira. Some traditionalists regard modern collaborations as a mixed blessing, leaving or modifying sacred traditions for more explicitly commercial goals. International recording artists such as
Hassan Hakmoun have introduced Gnawa music and dance to Western audiences through their recordings and concert performances. The centres for Gnawa music are
Marrakesh,
Tangier,
Rabat,
Casablanca,
Fez and
Essaouira, which is in the southwest of Morocco where the
Gnaoua World Music Festival is held annually. The Gnawa of
Marrakesh hold their annual festival at the sanctuary of
Moulay Brahim in the
Atlas Mountains and around the sanctuary of
Moulay Abdullah bin Tsain in the village of
Tamesloht, between
Marrakesh and the town of
Amizmiz. The festivals take place in connection with the birthday of
Muhammad. The Gnawa of
Khamlia hold their annual festival in August at the village of Khamlia in Erg Chebbi. Finally there is also a special tribe inside Gnawa called Ganga. The Ganga are of subsaharan African origin and typically speak
Tashelhait, and are found in Haha between Essaouira and Agadir and in the Sous Valley around towns like Agadir and Taroudant. They do not play the
guimbri but only focus on the dance known as
kouyou, playing
krakeb and the large drums called
tebel or
ganga, which is also part of the procession of the regular gnawa ceremony. File:Gnaouas d'Oran (Algérie) avec leur geumbri.JPG|Gnaouas from
Oran with their
guembri. File:Gnaoua in a North African Interior.jpg|Gnaoua in a North African Interior File:Musicien nègre, J. Geiser, Alger.jpg|Gnawa from Algiers with his guembri (circa 1906) by
Jean Geiser (1848-1923). File:AncientGnawa.jpg|Gnawas circa 1920s File:معلم الگناوة.jpg|Music Teacher File:فنان كًناوي ف سور سلا.jpg|Gnawa singer in
Salé,
Morocco. File:Moore-Gnawa.jpg|Gnawa Musicians, by
Harry Humphrey Moore. File:DANSE GNAOUI A TIMMOUN 021.jpg|A group of Gnawas dance to a song. ==See also==