Asilah, pictures and videos (2)

I went to Asilah to learn about African musics from African musicians. The Miracle Group from Tanger, with whom I associated frequently during the first week of the tour, played in the hotel, in the street, in the park, on stage and anywhere else where people gathered. I only know about African drumming from listening to recorded music and from books on rhythmic patterns when I've tried to piece some djembe rhythms together. This is different, being able to listen and later talk to the musicians about their amazing individual and ensemble drumming. 

I could go on at length but the most important thing I learned was that this is highly sophisticated and technical music, obviously organised but also partly improvised, played at all times with high levels of physical and musical energy and executed with ease and grace. Nothing is straightforward. There's a lot of 3 against 2 going on with 'bars' of 8 and 12 split into 2/3 and 5/7. The young player at bottom left told me about his Raquette or (I think)  keta drums, two small hourglass drums played with sticks. Everything he does is in groups of six. The complexity within that on two drums is baffling so I simply listened and learned, vowing that one day I'd acquire a couple of these drums and learn something from an accomplished snare drummer, maybe from the local pipe band. I reckon if you can hold down a few basic patterns along with some of the lop-sided djembe rhythms that you could join in, as did many of the Moroccans, and at least contribute without doing the usual white boy thumping in 4/4. At least that's the plan.

​The dancing of those beautiful girls, as you can imagine, was a joy to behold.

What I have succeeded in doing is to incorporate some of these complex patterns into my double thumbing Appalachian guitar technique but it's tricky to do spontaneously without having to count as I play. Time will tell.

These two videos are of a Moroccan Gnaoua ensemble. I spent loads of time with them socially and musically. They played constantly, morning noon and night so I can talk a little about Gnaoua as an insider of sorts. The first video shows part of the core group, plus Shingo the Japanese Qhanun player joining in. Said Kouyou is playing the guimbre, a Moroccan three-stringed plucked instrument in the bass register. He also sings solo and with the others in various call and response arrangements.

The metal percussion instruments are called 'clackers' (they are actually called that in Moroccan though I don't know how it's spelled). Apparently the music honours or expresses the pain of slaves who were forcibly moved around the Saharan region in times past. Their only instrument was the shackles that bound them. The music is elaborate, complex, sophisticated and spectacular. There's a well established Gnaoua festival every year in Essaouira down the coast add I think that some of the structural problems with this festival arose because of their straying into another town's established territory.

​The second video shows the full ensemble in traditional costume playing at an evening event. The older man on the red drum is the boss. There was an all night event (in a tiled room!!) at which he seemed to be in charge. Apparently there's an element of trance inducing in this music which makes sense if you play and sing all night at loud volumes.