Gnawa music
Gnawa music is a rich repertoire of ancient African Islamic spiritual religious songs and rhythms. Its well preserved heritage combines ritual poetry with traditional music and dancing. The music is performed at 'Lila's', entire communal nights of celebration, dedicated to prayer and healing, guided by the Gnawa Maalem and his group of musicians and dancers. Though many of the influences that formed this music can be traced to sub-Saharan West-Africa, its traditional practice is concentrated in Morocco and the Béchar Province in South-western Algeria.
The word 'Gnawa', plur. of Gnawi, is taken to be derived from the Hausa-Fulani word "Kanawa" for the residents of Kano, the capital of the Hausa-Fulani Emirate, which was a close ally of Morocco for centuries, religiously, economically, and in matters of defense. (Opinion of Essaouira Gnawa Maalems, Maalem Sadiq, Abdallah Guinia, and many others). Moroccan language often replaces "K" with "G", which is how the Kanawa, or Hausa people, were called Gnawa in Morocco. The Gnawa's history is closely related to the famous Moroccan royal "Black Guard", which became today the Royal Guard of Morocco.
Gnawa
The Gnawa (or Gnaoua, Ghanawa, Ghanawi, Gnawi) people originated from West Africa; to be precise the ancient Ghana Empire of Ouagadougou (present day Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Burkino Faso and 85% of Mali (pre Gnawi/Mali Wars)).
This name Gnawa is taken from one of the indigenous languages of the Sahara Desert called Tamazight. The phonology of this term according to the grammatical principles of Tamazight is as follows: Gnawi (singular), Gnawa (collective) and Gnawn (plural rarely used).
The Gnawa are an ethnic group whom, with the passing of time became a part of the Sufi order in Maghreb.
History
The Gnawa population is generally believed to originate from the Sahelian region of West and Central Africa, which had long and extensive trading and political ties with the Maghreb.
While adopting Islam, Gnawa continued to celebrate ritual possession during rituals where they are devoted to the practice of the dances of possession and fright. This rite of possession is called Jedba (Arabic: جدبة. Gnawa music mixes classical Islamic Sufism with pre-Islamic African traditions, whether local or sub-Saharan.
Podcasts:
Gnawa
ALBUMS
- Musica 90 Presents: Trance released: 1996
Musica 90 Presents: Trance
Released 1996- Discesa Negl' Inferi
- The Greens (Exerpts)
- Piedi in Aqua, Testa in Aria
- Wadaja
- Oru De Igbodú (Exerpts)
- La Foresta Dei Djinns
- Ketchak
- Invocazione
- Mimoz (Exerpts)
- Passaggio
- Salaama
- Hadra
- Foresta Dei Djinns II
- Ain Dá Rô
- Toques Y Cantos De Quiro (Exerpts)
- In Volo
- Aarzoo Hai
- Mantra
- Somma
- Ritorno Dal Viaggio
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