Morocco's Master Musicians of Jajouka to perform ancient Sufi trance music this Saturday (with photos)
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Jajouka is a Sufi Muslim village in the mountains of northern Morocco and home to an amazing musical tradition more than 1 000 years old. For generations, the Attar family served as prestigious court musicians to the Moroccan Sultans, and in 1982, Bachir Attar took over the Master Musicians of Jajouka from his father. The hereditary musicians of Jajouka employ local and traditional instruments to conjure up intoxicating ritual music that is believed to have healing effects. Works are interwoven with complex rhythms and melodic themes that transport listeners to a transcendent realm.
ýÿ The ensemble's repertoire includes traditional and newly arranged works, along with pieces specifically preserved by the Attar family. In the concert, the group will perform with instruments such as the ghaita (double reed horn), lira (bamboo flute), djarbouga (Arabic ceramic drum), gimbri (four-stringed lute), bendir (hand drum), kamanja (violin) and tebel (double-skinned drum). The programme will include "Boujeloudia", part of a fertility ritual that has existed for millennia; "T'Fardisha Ouf Khamsa Khamsine" (55 Fifty-five), perhaps the oldest piece of Jajouka music, with rhythmic and harmonic complexity; and pieces composed by Bachir Attar such as "Full Moon at the Window", "Peace on Earth" and "Dance from the Heart".
ýÿ The multi-patterned sound of Jajouka music has inspired Western avant-garde painters, writers and musicians including Brion Gysin, Paul Bowles, William Burroughs, Brian Jones and Ornette Coleman to journey to Jajouka since the 1950s. They in turn have helped spread the village's special musical heritage internationally. Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, which also visited Jajouka, described the group as "one of the most musically inspiring groups still left on the planet".
The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar, one of the programmes of the World Cultures Festival 2017 - Vibrant Africa, will be held at 8pm on November 11 at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. Tickets priced at $160, $220, $300 and $400 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999.
Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the World Cultures Festival 2017 - Vibrant Africa is running from October 20 to November 19. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2370 1044 or visit www.worldfestival.gov.hk.
Ends/Monday, November 6, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:40
Issued at HKT 17:40
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