Various Artists – Jola – Hidden Gnawa Music in Brussels (Muziekpublique, 2020)
This revealing album features the leading Gnawa music performers in Brussels. The Belgian capital has a large number of Moroccan Gnawa musicians and some call it the Gnawa capital of Europe. The Muziekpublique label has brought together these artists to showcase the spiritual and musical world of the Gnawa.
Jola takes the listener through an all-night ritual full of trance music called lila. On the album you’ll hear the cyclic throbbing sound of the Gnawa lute called guimbri or sentir, the transfixing metal castanets called karkabas and ritual chants.
The musicians on Jola include Achraf Abantor, Jalal Abantor, Marwan Abantor, Hanane Abdallah, Abderrahman Benjaafar, Driss Benjaafar, Hicham Bilali, Ayoub Boufous, Abdennour Dahou, Badr El Hernat, Driss Filali, Yassine Ghailani, Aziz Moustaid, Abdelwahid Stitou, Bachir Stitou, Rida Stitou, and Mohamed Zafzaf.
The physical version of the album is highly recommend. It includes a large booklet with photos of the artists and detailed information about the Gnawa history and the Gnawa music scene in Brussels with liner notes in English, French, Flemish (Dutch) and Arabic.
More about Gnawa music.
Buy Jola
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.