This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
Hibapress
A captivating fusion between the Gnaoua spirit and the Amazigh rhythms won, Friday evening, the passionate public of the Gnaoua festival and Music of the World of Essaouira, the time of a rich artistic spectacle and imbued with creativity on the stage of the beach.
During the second evening of the festivities of the 26th edition of this essential cultural event, talented artists of various musical universes, mixing, with finesse, the roots of local heritage with the richness of contemporary influences, delivered a singular performance between authenticity and renewal, and making the stage of the beach a real place of free expression and creative openness.
The evening was kicked off was given by the Maâlem Driss Essamlali, one of the rising figures of the new generation of Maâlems Gnaoua. The young Driss, in fact, was able to reinterpret this ancient art with a personal touch, faithful to the original spirit but tinged with a contemporary breath.
The public was then captivated by the performance of Mehdi El Kordoudi, whose vibrant scenic presence and the intensity of interpretation instilled new energy in the Gnaoui repertoire. The assistance reacted with remarkable fervor, melting into music over a collective moment imbued with rhythmic finesse and emotion.
In a daring and singular performance, the traditional rhythms of the Souss region have encountered modern and global musical sounds. The Ribab Fusion group has revisited the songs of “Ismkan”, deeply rooted in African memory, mixing them with blues, rock, reggae and funk, giving them a new and eclectic dimension.
Lancer of the renewal of Amazigh music, Ribab Fusion is launched under the leadership of Foulane Bouhssine, Ribab virtuoso and graduate of the Agadir Conservatory of Music. This musical group reinvents this emblematic monocord instrument by electrifying it and mixing it with blues, rock, reggae and funk sounds.
The Maâlem Mustapha Baqbou and its stage partner, the Maâlem Najib Oublaqas, have embodied the meeting of two generations carrying the Gnaoua way. Baqbou, pioneer of mergers between gnaoua rhythms and world music, shared the scene with Oublaqas, representing a youth steeped in tradition but turned towards an artistic vision open to the international.
Their duo was a strong artistic moment, merging the perfume of the past with the audacity of the present, to offer the public a unique musical experience, both faithful to the Gnaoua soul and resolutely contemporary.
And the best for the end, Fahd Benchemsi & The Lallas conquered all the present generations, brilliantly mixing Gnaoua, Gospel, Jazz and Soul in a modern performance, nourished by the deep roots of the Gnaoua tradition, to the delight of fans of Gnaoua art.
Passionate about the ancestral sounds of Gnaoua music, a spiritual heritage resulting from mixing between sub-Saharan and Moroccan African cultures, Fahd Benchemsi is multi-instrumentalist and singer, which seizes this tradition to propose a current and daring reading.
The 26ᵉ edition of the Gnaoua and world music festival, which illuminates the sky of the city of the Alizés, welcomes 350 artists, including 40 Maâlems Gnaoua.
