All aboard the Marrakech Express

Marrakech is swiftly becoming the cultural capital of North Africa. Known for beautiful luxury hotels, Morocco also offers a vast range of alternative festivals as well as an active and exciting World Music scene.

Authentic Moroccan Music covers all manner of forms such as Arab, Berber, classical and Chaabi (Moroccan pop). These art forms fall in and out of the Performance Art genre and raconteurs from all over the country often use the music to enhance classic and modern Moroccan stories.

Gnawa music is perhaps the music best to epitomise the Moroccan style. Uniting African, Berber and Arab songs as well as acrobatics, songs can last for over an hour. Gnawa refers to an ethnic group or religious order which, in part, descends from former slaves from sub-Saharan Africa. It is often wrongly presumed to be a “brotherhood” as women are rarely, if ever are involved in the performance music, however this is not the case. A majority of devouts of Gnawa are women, including most of the officiants. It is simply cultural tradition which prohibits women performing the Gnawa music.

Allegedly Moorish slave traders bought the Gnawas for their healing powers and often at night in Djemaa El Fna (“The place of the dead”) which is a square in the centre of Marrakech, they can be seem performing Lilas – all night healing sessions. These are a bit like exorcisms, where the within spirits participants are knowledged and played out through interesting beats and chants. The music forms a remarkable mix of transient castanet, circling double-bass and racing guimbri fused by a trance foundation with additional chants. Like Reggae, Gnawa is easily converted into mainstream music (predominantly trance) and has certain beats and traits which make the music accessible despite its unwesternised heritage.

Despite being branded as a place of extreme opulence with myriad of luxury riads, Morocco has much more to offer. Maison mk, as featured in OK! and the Times, is an affordable and exquisite compromise of authenticity as well as style. With an open roof structure the riad is perfect for listening to the Gnawa performances happening in the square from the comfort of seats. It is best, however, where possible, to experience the music from the square itself. Here the performance awakens all your senses and the sentiment behind the performance music is not lost.

The influence that Gnawa music has had cannot be underestimated, and collaborators such as Randy Western, Don Cherry and Led Zeppelin are a testament to how the music has affected western music.

Marrakech 2008 plays host to many festivals, most notably the Montreux Jazz Festival (http://www.montreuxjazz.com) the annual celebration of world music, in July. It boasts La Ménara and the Bahia Palace as its main venues and the festival has gained a world wide status through memorable contributions from artists such as Bo Diddely, Chuck Berry, Ella Fitzgerald, B.B. King and Herbie Hancock. The Festival began as a Swiss celebration of Jazz but has transformed into a celebration of all world music and The Moroccan version, although more underground, showcases elements of this classic event, including workshops, acoustic concerts and the Montreux Jazz Club.

Marrakech hosts an annual Festival of Folklore at the end of June, which exhibits some performances from the world’s bests Gnawa musicians including M'allem Sam (Mohamed Zourhbat) and M'allem Hmidah (Ahmed Boussou), two masters of the performance. The World Music festival, however, in August perhaps displays the Gnawa performance music best, with workshops as well as spectacular performances of the music.

William Burroughs, renowned writer of the Beat Generation and 1960s cultural commentator, once described the market square in Marrakech as a place “where human potentials are spread out.” In 2008 this still rings true and the sounds of the city seems to grow and change with the potential of the scene as well as the people within them. Flooding contemporary luxury Marrakech riads and intertwining experiences with authenticity, the sound of Gnawa is the sound of Morocco. The festivals celebrating this music are a cultural manifestation of the place and as such can not be missed.

Jo-Rosie is the Communications Officer and Copywriter for Brighton-based search-led Internet Marketing Consultancy, Leapfrogg. Leapfrogg works with clients to acquire, convert and retain customers online, thereby delivering positive returns to their organisations. With expertise, passion and integrity, help make the place a better place to do business with Leapfrogg.