I had asked the tape seller if he had any Gnawa tapes. He pulled down this one, popped it in the deck for me, and pushed play. I thought to myself this seems to me like anti-Gnawa. I wanted the warm, woody, resonant rumble of the sintir and call & response vocals of full-throated baritones. What I got was some crazy electro-drum-and-synth driving home the perpetual Moroccan chaabi 6/8 beat, and a young lady leading the call and response vocals. And yet the j-card read “Special Gnawa” and had pictures of Gnawa musicians on it, so I grabbed it, figuring it would at least be interesting to figure out what about this music signified “Gnawa”.
“One of her signatures that one can hear across most of her records is a
unique way of arranging the typical Chaabi rhythm… [The] driving hi-hat and tam-tam give us a
double-time 12/8 feel, while the kick and snare create a half-time 4/4
feel, almost like a rock backbeat (if you hear it the wrong way).”
Hope you enjoy it!
Aziza El Meknassia عزيزة المكناسية
Special Gnawa – Volume II
Voix Bab Mansour cassette 38 صوت باب منصور
01 Al Mwima Lhbiba الميمة لحبيبة
02 Ribou Ya Douk Lejbal ريبو يا دوك لجبال
Ana Lli Dert Khairi Ou Ma Ouella Liya انا لي درت خيري وما ولا ليا
03 Chailah شايلاه
Qalbi Derni
Ana Zayra Moulay Ibrahim
Lalla Chafia
04 Marrakech مراكش
Laman Wahia Laman
Jilali Dawi Hali
Touria Laghzal
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