Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

International Mugham Center hosted a concert of Moroccan singer Maalem Houssam Guinea and his band on April 19.

Supported by Moroccan Embassy in Azerbaijan, the event was organized as part of "Pearls of Ethnic Music" project, Trend Life reported.

Notably, a number of musicians from Romania, Moldova, Turkey, Greece have already performed in Baku as part of the project.

Addressing the event, the Ambassador of Morocco in Azerbaijan Mohammad Adil Ambarh stressed the developing friendly, economic and cultural ties between the two countries. It was noted that Gnawa is one of the most important directions in the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Morocco. It is a mixture of African, Berber and Arabic religious songs and rhythms.

This term that has two meanings in the cultural aspect. It is used to define both the religious and spiritual order, traditional for a people with an identical name, and actually as music that reflects their spiritual life.

Each musical composition is a symbiosis of texts and an elegant melody. Gnawa music is accompanied by traditional dances of African tribes.

In spite of the fact that only three instruments are used for the execution of Gnaua - drums of "gang", castanets "krakeb" and three-stringed lute "gembri" - because of the power of emotional influence this music has no equal, and the Moroccans themselves attribute it healing properties.

The large heavy iron castanets known as qraqab (or krakebs large iron castanets) and a three-string lute known commonly as a hajhuj (or gimbri) are central to Gnawa music.

Gnawa World Music Festival is annually held in the city of Essaouira, Morocco.

The concert aroused great interest among spectators. The Moroccan musicians conquered the audience with flawless performance.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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