Asmaa Hamzaoui is the world’s first female performer of traditional Gnawa music. Together with her group Bnat Timbouktou which consists of her sister and other female musicians, she creates an infectious evangelical desert blues. When the group plays together, the guembrin, a lute-like percussion and string instrument, and Asmaa Hamzaoui’s expressive voice take center stage, but the soundscape is complemented by the fellow sisters’ playing of metal castanets, which is typical of Gnawa music. “When I play the guembri, I’m in my element. It’s a living instrument made of wood and goat skin. So the whole instrument is full of life,” says Asmaa. Come listen and be inspired by this amazing group of female musicians who are driving an important struggle and change in terms of traditions, equality and spirituality in today’s society in Morocco and in the world.
Asmaa Hamzaoui: Singing, guembri
Aicha Hamzaoui: Singing, qraqab
Ouidad Mouchrik: Song, qraqab
Khaoula El Bacha: Song, qraqab
