Kasbah: Music from Morocco

A series of beautiful kalimba improvisations by Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Mourad Belouadi. His work is deeply rooted in the Gnawa musical tradition and has been exploring ways to expand the Gnawa musical language into other musical worlds, as he does so with the kalimba in this video. This video is shot in the desert town of M'hamid El Ghizlane where his family is originally from.

A series of beautiful kalimba improvisations by Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Mourad Belouadi. His work is deeply rooted in the Gnawa musical tradition and has been exploring ways to expand the Gnawa musical language into other musical worlds, as he does so with the kalimba in this video. This video is shot in the desert town of M'hamid El Ghizlane where his family is originally from.

“Toura Toura” is part of a deep spiritual tradition born out of the enslavement of countless sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco. This tradition, “Gnawa,” has evolved over the last 500 years as a healing ritual, blending pre-Islamic African animism with classical Islamic Sufism. The Moroccan band “Innov Gnawa” is shown here bringing the spirit of Gnawa music to Brooklyn, where they now reside.

A series of beautiful kalimba improvisations by Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Mourad Belouadi. His work is deeply rooted in the Gnawa musical tradition and has been exploring ways to expand the Gnawa musical language into other musical worlds, as he does so with the kalimba in this video. This video is shot in the desert town of M'hamid El Ghizlane where his family is originally from.

“La ilaha illa Allah” is part of a deep spiritual tradition born out of the enslavement of countless sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco. This tradition, called “Gnawa,” evolved over the last 500 years as a healing ritual, blending pre-Islamic African animism with Islamic Sufism. The Moroccan band “Innov Gnawa” is shown here bringing the spirit of Gnawa music to Brooklyn, where they now reside.

A performance by Symphonie Lahcen Idhamou of “TallouHt” - a devotional song from the Souss region of Morocco, blending indigenous (Amazigh) traditions with Islamic practice . The song title translates to “the chalkboard” in the Amazigh dialect, but actually serves as a metaphor for how musical instruments can serve as blank canvases onto which God’s light can be painted.

A series of beautiful kalimba improvisations by Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Mourad Belouadi. His work is deeply rooted in the Gnawa musical tradition and has been exploring ways to expand the Gnawa musical language into other musical worlds, as he does so with the kalimba in this video. This video is shot in the desert town of M'hamid El Ghizlane where his family is originally from.

“Banwari” is part of a deep spiritual tradition born out of the enslavement of countless sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco. This tradition, “Gnawa,” has evolved over the last 500 years as a healing ritual, blending pre-Islamic African animism with classical Islamic Sufism. The Moroccan band “Innov Gnawa” is shown here bringing the spirit of Gnawa music to Brooklyn, where they now reside.

A performance by Symphonie Lahcen Idhamou of “Ayeh Ayeh Aya Margi” - a devotional song from the Souss region of Morocco, blending indigenous (Amazigh) traditions with Islamic practice. Remix ⟷ Culture filmed and recorded Symphonie Lahcen Idhamou at the top of a mountain overseeing Paradise Valley (just east of the beach city of Agadir).

A series of beautiful kalimba improvisations by Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Mourad Belouadi. His work is deeply rooted in the Gnawa musical tradition and has been exploring ways to expand the Gnawa musical language into other musical worlds, as he does so with the kalimba in this video. This video is shot in the desert town of M'hamid El Ghizlane where his family is originally from.

Foulani Hiriza & Soye is part of a deep spiritual tradition born out of the enslavement of countless sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco. This tradition, “Gnawa,” has evolved over the last 500 years as a healing ritual, blending pre-Islamic African animism with classical Islamic Sufism. The Moroccan band “Innov Gnawa” is shown here bringing the spirit of Gnawa music to Brooklyn, where they now reside.

A performance by Symphonie Lahcen Idhamou of two devotional songs from the Souss region of Morocco, blending indigenous (Amazigh) traditions with Islamic practice

A unique interpretation of the Gnawa traditional song “Katiballah” by Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Mourad Belouadi. Like much of the Gnawa repertoire - with its roots in the slave trade which displaced many Central and West Africans to North Africa - "Katiballah" is a devotional song which blends pre-Islamic pan-African traditions with classical Islamic Sufism.

“Hammadi” is part of a deep spiritual tradition born out of the enslavement of countless sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco. This tradition, called “Gnawa,” has evolved over the last 500 years as a healing ritual, blending pre-Islamic African animism with classical Islamic Sufism. The Moroccan band “Innov Gnawa” is shown here bringing the spirit of Gnawa music to Brooklyn, where they now reside.

A virtuosic performance by Symphonie Lahcen Idhamou of “Mousiqa Samita” - a traditional Amazigh song from the Souss region of Morocco. The song title translates to “Silent music” in Arabic, which really means “instrumental music.” Remix ⟷ Culture filmed and recorded Symphonie Lahcen Idhamou at the top of a mountain overseeing Paradise Valley (just east of the beach city of Agadir).

A unique interpretation of the Gnawa traditional song “Mawama” by Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Mourad Belouadi. Like much of the Gnawa repertoire - with its roots in the slave trade which displaced many Central and West Africans to North Africa - "Mawama" is a song about disposession, suffering, and spiritual transcendence.

“Bangara” is part of a deep spiritual tradition born out of the enslavement of countless sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco. This tradition, called “Gnawa,” has evolved over the last 500 years as a healing ritual, blending pre-Islamic African animism with classical Islamic Sufism. The Moroccan band “Innov Gnawa” is shown here bringing the spirit of Gnawa music to Brooklyn, where they now reside.