The Moroccan artist Majid Bekkas, who directed this artistic patchwork, was accompanied by the talented vibraphonist, David Patrois, the rhythm genius adept in spoken word, Minino Garay, the drummer, Mokhtar Samba as well as the saxophonist, Axel Camil, to deliver a high quality musical picture.
Carried by the melodious voice of the Gnaouis and the magic of this collaborative work, the public of Essaouira immediately joined the musicians to celebrate musical living together in all its splendour.
Thus, Moroccans and foreigners have traveled from one style to another, with disconcerting fluidity and ease. Still in this spirit of fusion, the performance of the group “Amazones d’Afrique”, composed of singers from various African countries, was widely appreciated by the festival-goers. With their panache and the power of their voices, the African divas have transformed the Moulay Hassan stage into a place of cultural mixing and musical exchange.
The closing of the Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival was also marked by other performances by Hind Ennaira, the Maâlams Hassan Boussou and Hamid El Kasri, as well as the Joubran trio, at the beach stage, Dar Souiri , Bayt Dakira, Zaouia Issaoua and Bab Borj Marrakech.
The 24th edition of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival, which took place from June 22 to 24, was an ideal opportunity to present the musical richness of Morocco and the world, through new performances combining modernity and tradition. Alongside the concerts and other artistic activities, the 10th edition of the Human Rights Forum was organised, with the central theme “Identities and affiliations”, a topical subject in a world crossed by identity tensions and the refusal to otherness.
Artists, intellectuals, thinkers and political, associative and cultural actors from Morocco and elsewhere gathered in Essaouira to defend and reinvent a more united world. In addition, music workshops for young and old were also on the Festival menu to allow the discovery and learning of Gnaoua music, its instruments, its rhythms and its history, in addition to the exhibition “The awakening of memory” and a meeting-debate with the artists “Arbre à Palabres”.
