Later career Hakmoun made his U.S. debut in 1987 at
Lincoln Center in New York City with Etian and Blanca Lee'’s Trio Gna & Nomadas dance group. He subsequently relocated to New York where he was received by artists such as composer and producer Richard Horowitz and Peter Gabriel. He became a fixture in New York’s rock, jazz and fusion scenes, spanning multiple genres. In 1989 Hakmoun became part of the group
Magmouat Hakmoun with his brother Said and relatives Mohammed Bechar and Abdel Hok Dahmad. Later that year, with help from Robert Browning and the
World Music Institute, Hakmoun produced and released his debut album
Fire Within. He recorded his second album, "Gift of the Gnawa" with
Adam Rudolph and jazz trumpeter
Don Cherry in 1991. Hakmoun began to expand his musical range, adding American sounds to the Moroccan form. This led him to form the group
Zahar, meaning ‘luck’, whose music fused elements of rock and jazz with African styles. With the ensemble, Hakmoun recorded his first album featuring electric instruments and continued to perform around New York City. One such instance occurred during a performance at the
Knitting Factory, whose audience members included
Miles Davis, and
Daniel Lanois, who proceeded to introduce Hakmoun to an important future collaborator, pop musician
Peter Gabriel. In 1992 Hakmoun joined Gabriel’s
WOMAD, founded in 1980. Hakmoun released another album,
Trance, at Gabriel's
Real World Studios in
Bath, England. From Bath, Hakmoun toured Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. along with other WOMAD artists, including performing under the group's auspices at the
Woodstock 94 festival in 1994. His albums
Fire Within,
Gift of the Gnawa and
Trance topped the charts for World Music Albums, World Music Charts Europe, New World and
CMJ's Radio Top 150 and were selected by
Rolling Stone as one of the "Hot Picks of ’94. His powerful performances and sounds also resulted in letters of admiration from former New York City Mayor
David Dinkins, television host
Jay Leno and saxophonist
David Sanborn, as well as from executives at the
New York Times and the
British Broadcasting Corporation.
2002 - present In 2002 Hakmoun teamed up with American-born producer
Fabian Alsultany to record a new album,
The Gift. The album included the release of the single, "This Gift," a duet with
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter
Paula Cole. In 2003
The Gift received an INDIE award for "Best Contemporary World Music Recording" from the
Association for Independent Music (AFIM). In addition to producing his own albums, Hakmoun has contributed to other artist’s recordings, adding to such projects as "Caravan" for
Dee Dee Bridgewater’s album
Prelude To A Kiss,
Ozomatli’s
Street Sings, which won the award for "Best Alternative Music Album" at the
Latin Grammy Awards in 2005 and "Lovelight" for
Paula Cole’s
Courage in 2007. Hakmoun has also composed and recorded for several films such as
Rendezvous in Samarkand directed by Tim Bridwell,
The Past and the Present of Djemma El Fna by Steve Montgomery and the documentary
Footsteps in Africa. Hakmoun appeared in several movies as an actor, dancer and musician, including Disney’s
Jungle 2 Jungle in 1997 and
Rollerball by
John McTiernan in 2002. Today Hakmoun continues to record and perform in major festivals and venues around the globe, as well as give master workshops in universities. Hakmoun subsequently began a project in collaboration with other percussive dancers to create a new style of Gnawa dance. ==Personal life==