Gnawa is a term used to define both a Moroccan music style and a Muslim religious brotherhood that invokes God and many prophets. The patron saint of the Gnawa is Bilal al Habashi, an Ethiopian who was the first African to convert to Islam and Prophet Mohamed’s first muezzin (caller to prayer). The Gnawa also recognize and respect all Muslim saints.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) describes Gnawa as Sufi brotherhood music combined with lyrics with a generally religious content, invoking ancestors and spirits.
The origin of Gnawa music originally comes from West Africa, south of the Sahara. Over 500 years ago, slavery, conscription, and trade brought people from West Africa to the Magreb in North Africa, which is current day Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Mauritania. When they arrived to the north, the sub-Saharan Africans brought their music with them, which was called Gnawa. Since these different groups all played the same type of music, they call themselves the Gnawa people.
Gnawa song texts contain many references to the privations of exile and slavery. Gnawa music is based on pentatonic melodies and the syncopated rhythms led by the propulsive drive of a bass lute called guimbri or sintir, metal castanets known as karkabas (also known as k’rkbs and qaraqeb) and chanting.
Gnawa culture is now considered as part of Morocco’s heterogeneous culture and identity. The Gnawa, especially in the urban areas, practice a therapeutic possession ritual through all-night rhythm and trance ceremonies combining ancestral African practices, Arab-Muslim influences and native Berber cultural performances.
The Gnawa in rural areas organize collective meals offered to marabout (saints). Some Gnawa in urban areas use the guimbri lute and karkabas, while those in rural areas use large drums and karkabas.
Colorful, embroidered costumes are worn by the Gnawa in the cities, while white attire with accessories is used in rural practices.
The number of fraternal groups and master musicians is constantly growing in Morocco’s villages and major cities, and Gnawa groups – organized into associations – hold local, regional, national and international festivals year-round. This allows young people to learn about both the lyrics and musical instruments, as well as an overall introduction to practices and rituals related to Gnawa culture.
Gnawa music has attracted western ethnomusicologists like David Lewiston, as well as jazz and rock musicians. Moroccan and western musicians have combined Gnawa music with other global sounds, asa well as rock, jazz, and electronic music. Additionally, Moroccan migrants who settled in France, Belgium, Spain, and other countries have created Gnawa music groups, spreading Gnawa culture beyond Morocco.
The Gnawa as entertainers
The Gnawa are most visible as entertainers. Each afternoon on Jamaa el-Fna, the large entertainment town square in Marrakesh, groups of Gnawa perform acrobatic dances to the accompaniment of large side drums (tbel or ganga) and the karkabas. The sound of the drums also rousts any spirits (jnun) that may have settled in the neighborhood.
The Derdeba
Gnawa music is very powerful spiritual music, and it is primarily used for healing. The Gnawa carry out trance ceremonies (derdeba) in order to heal people who are very sick. The goal may be to purge an evil spirit that has brought the illness, infertility, stress or some other affliction or the purpose may be to prolong a positive relationship with a spirit that has brought prosperity, good fortune, or some other baraka (blessing).
The derdeba is performed all night long in order to carry out the healing and purification. The musicians and devotees warm up for the derdeba with entertainment music played on the sintir. When they are ready to begin the ceremony, all the participants gather outside, in front of the house where the derdeba is to take place. The drums and karkabas announce to neighbors and spirits alike that the derdeba is about to begin. The crowd then walks back inside the house in a candlelight procession. The maallem (lead musician or maestro) again plays the sintir, and the group sings and plays a series of songs to dedicate the robes to be worn during the ceremony, while the other participants share dates and milk.
The complete ceremony includes seven sections, each controlled by a different saint or family of spirits. Each section is associated with clothing of a particular color. The ritual sends some participants into a trance or a spirit may first possess a devotee, and then express through the dancer’s mouth its desire for the appropriate tune. The trance state is accelerated by the proper combination of spices and incense that must be burned, and the dancer must be dressed in the spirit’s preferred color.
A complete derdeba may last all night, well past dawn on the following day. As the trance ceremony ends, the musicians return to lighter music to relax the spectators.
The Gnawa Lute
The Gnawa lute goes by a variety of names, including guembri or guimbri, sentir (a term related to the Persian word santur), hejhuj (an onomatopoeic Arabic word) and gog (probably derived from a West African word for fiddle).
Gnawa Culture, Inscribed in 2019 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
In 2019, Gnawa culture was inscribed (14.COM) on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Gnawa is described by UNESCO as a set of musical events, performances, fraternal practices and therapeutic rituals mixing the secular with the sacred.
Gnawa Artists
Leading Gnawa artists include Maâlem Hamid El Kasri, Karim Ziad, Mustapha Antari, Mehdi Chaïd, Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouctou, Hasna El Becharia, Majid Bekkas, Aziz Sahmaoui, Gnawa Diffusion, El Houssaine Kili, Gnawa Halwa, Gnawa Sidi Mimoun, Hamid El Gnawi, Hassan Hakmoun, M’alem Abdellah Boulkhair El Gourd, Maâlem Abdallah Guinéa, Mehdi Nassouli and Nass Marrakech
Gnawa Web sites
- Cyber Gnawa by Rodrigo Dorfman
- Gnawa Stories
Discography:
Gnawa Music of Marrakesh: Night Spirit Masters. (Axiom/Island Records, 1990).
Gift of the Gnawa with Hassan Hakmoun, Adam Rudolph, Don Cherry, and Richard Horowitz (Flying Fish/Rounder 571, 1991).
The Splendid Gnawa Masters Featuring Randy Weston (Verve, 1992).
Trance – Hassan Hakmoun and Zahar (Real World 62334, 1993).
The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco Featuring Randy Weston. (Antilles/Verve 314 521 587, 1995).
Le Gnawa du Maroc. Ouled El ‘Abdi (Auvidis/Ethnic, 1995).
Trance: Balinese Barong, Gnawa Music of Morocco, Zkir from Chinese Turkistan – The Musical Expeditions Series/Audio CD and Book (Ellipsis Arts, 1995). Compiled by David Lewiston.
Ancestral Healing – Pops Mohamed, Hassan Hakmoun, and Ephat Mujuru (B&W Music 069, 1995)
The Fire Within: Gnawa Music of Morocco – Hassan Hakmoun (Music of the World, 1995).
Gnawa from Marrakech: Song for Sidi Mimoun (Robi Droli rdc 5035, 1996) .
Volume I. Gnawa Songs and Music from Morocco (Al Sur AL 101, 1996).
Al-Maghrib, Gnawa Music. Vol. 6 of The Music of Islam. 15 vols. Prod. David Parsons. (Celestial Harmonies, 1997).
Gnawa Essaouira – Maaleem Mahmoud Ghania (Sounds of the World, 1999).
Life Around the World – Hassan Hakmoun (Alula Records, 1999)
Volume II. The Masters of guimbri: The White Suite. (Al Sur AL 145, 2000).
Volume III. The Masters of guimbri: The Blue Suites. (Al Sur AL 146, 2000).
Volume IV. The Masters of guimbri: The Red and Green Suites. (Al Sur AL 147, 2000).
Volume V. The Masters of guimbri: The Dark and Yellow Suites. (Al Sur AL 148, 2000).
Sabil a Salaam – Nass Marrakech (Alula Records, Alu-1021, 2000)
Bouderbala – Nass Marrakech (World Village 498001, 2002)
The Gift – Hassan Hakmoun (Triloka 7930185228-2, 2002)
Essaouira, festival gnaoua (Creon Music, 2003)
Heritage musical des gnaoua d’Essaouira (Sono Disc, 2002)
Hadra des gnaoua d’Essaouira (Ocora, 2003)
Ouled Bambara-Portraits of Gnawa
Fangnawa, a collaboration with Moroccan master musician Maâlem Abdallah Guinéa (Strut Records STRUT096, 2012)
Simo Lagnawi – The Gnawa Berber (Riverboat Records/World Music Network, 2014)
Mehdi Nassouli – Taziri (World Village, 2015)
Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou – Oulad Lghaba (Ajabu!, 2019)
Various Artists – Jola – Hidden Gnawa Music in Brussels (Muziekpublique, 2020)
Bibliography:
Traveling Spirit Masters: Moroccan Gnawa Trance and Music in the Global Marketplace by Deborah Kapchan, Wesleyan University Press, 2007.
The Gnawa Lions: Authenticity and Opportunity in Moroccan Ritual Music (Public Cultures of the Middle East and North Africa) by Christopher Witulski, Indiana University Press, 2018. ISBN-10: 0253036755, ISBN-13: 978-0253036759.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
Updated article in December 2019
Updated discography.