About
Brooklyn-based sextet Innov Gnawa envelops audiences in the hypnotic beauty of Moroccan Gnawa (GUH-nah-wah) music. The word Gnawa signifies not only a style of music, but also the people who created it. The Gnawa are descendants of sub-Saharan Africans originally brought to Morocco as soldiers and slaves. Although associated with Sufi tradition, Gnawa music pre-dates Islam and is rooted in animistic, spiritual, and mystical concepts originally sung in Bambara, Fulani, and Sudani. Guided by a maâlem (MAH-lehm), a master artist vested with deep spiritual responsibility, musicians perform elaborately structured all-night trance rituals, called lila (lee-lah), to engage the spirits in the healing and purification of both individuals and community. While historically a culture of the dispossessed, Gnawa has in recent years gained immense popularity in Morocco as a national music.
Innov Gnawa is led by Maâlem Hassan Ben Jaafer, a master from a long line of prominent Gnawa maâlems in the city of Fes (Fez). The group was founded in 2013 when Samir LanGus moved to New York City in order to apprentice with the Maâlem. Maâlem Ben Jaafer presides over the ensemble with his distinctive singing and hypnotizing melodies played on the sintir (SIN-teer)-a three-stringed, long-necked lute-while the five chorus members, called kouyo (KOH-yoh), fill out the sound with richly layered vocals accompanied by distinctive iron castanets, the qraqeb (KRAH-kehb). Joining LanGus in the chorus are Amino Belyamani, Said Bourhana, Nawfal Atiq, and Ahmed Jeriouda.
Innov Gnawa continues to perform in traditional settings within the Moroccan American community, but have also gained widespread acclaim for their efforts to bring the cultural and spiritual legacy of the Gnawa to new audiences. One recent New York performance featured the Maâlem's knowledge of the ancient Sebitiyin (SEB-tee-yeen), a repertoire of Gnawan songs composed to honor the community's connection with Moroccan Jews. In the hands of Innov Gnawa, this ancient music retains a power to connect and heal that transcends time and place.