The Maghreb

Gnawa Music background

"Gnawa predates Islam and retains themes of the natural world. Many of the colors of songs refer to things like the sea, the sky, and the forest. The themes also include ideas of migration, exile, nostalgia, and tributes to religious prophets, historical figures, Gnawa ancestors, and previous maalems... "The oldest songs are sung in Sub-Saharan languages of Bambara, Fulani, and Sudani, and more recently Arabic has been incorporated. That being said, we know that Gnawa culture—including its music—dates back to the animistic and shamanistic cultures of West Africa, predating the arrival of all of the monotheistic religions to Africa. The first documentation comes from the twelfth century, so it's at least 800 years old and is likely even older."

tatouka jabalia

"drums of the mountains." music played in Jajouka by its master musicians. The Master Musicians have been the town's musical ensemble for centuries, playing at weddings, social gatherings as well as performing Boujeloud's ritual music and dance at the yearly festival of 'Aid al-Kbir. Unlike most wedding troupes, however, membership can be attained only by birth into specific families, traced to two ancestors, Attar and Rtobi. To this day, the Master Musicians hold a ceremony every Friday at the saint's shrine in Jajouka at which pilgrims call on the musicians to channel the saint's baraka—or divine blessing—through the music to ask God to heal the sick or, perhaps, provide a pregnant mother with a male child.

The New Period

(Bali - late 19th/20th/21st century)

tinidit

(related to forbearers of banjo) - made from hollowed log, scrap metal for cover

Ritaul

1. Established sequence of events 2. participants with clearly defined roles 3. Features with special dress, sound, movement 4. has it owns sense of time 5. Liminality - Between social statuses

mbube

A choral style of typically all-male vocal groups from South Africa

Dust Bowl

A drought in the 1930s that turned the Great Planes very dry. An area of Oklahoma, Kansas, and northern Texas affected by severe soil erosion (caused by windstorms) in the early 1930s, which obliged many people to move

Sufism

A particular approach to Islam with mystical practice often frowned upon my other denominations. Linage comes from Prophet Mohammed's son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib (the same root for Shia Islam, though Sufis can be associated with Shia or Sunni beliefs). Sufism has spread throughout the Islamic world as opposed to being concentrated in a specific region. Historically, Sufis belong to ṭuruq, or "orders." Instead of an Imam, these worship communities are formed around a grand master referred to as a wali, who traces a direct chain of successive teachers back to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Sufis believe that you find the truth through losing of the self and communion with God; primary tools are music (quawwali in India/Pakistan), poetry (13th Century poet Rumi, movement (Turkey's Zikr/whirling "dervishes"). The arts are ecstatic practices that involve going into trance as a way to find God; other Muslims believe best way to find God is through Sharia, Islamic law.

globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in more broad scope.

Graceland (Paul Simon's)

Album by Paul Simon that featured world music

kotekan

An Indonesian term for the interlocking parts heard in Balinese gamelan music

Kaja vs. Kelod

As most traditional houses in Indonesia, spatial orientation and hierarchy are crucial considerations in Balinese architecture. The concept is based on the Hindu dharma principle: every objects in the universe is conceived as having an ideal location; this must be correctly aligned at all time in order to achieve harmony with the universe. There are two main cardinal directions of Balinese universe: kaja and kelod. Kaja means "to the mountain" (Mount Agung) and refers to anything that is higher or sacred. Kelod means "to the sea" (abode of the demons) and indicates low and profane places.

Musik Kontemperar

Balinese contemporary music

Rame

Crowded, bustling, chaotic, and hectic. To fill up all empty space with shimmering movement.

Mali

Empire created by indigenous Muslims in western Sudan of West Africa from the thirteenth to fifteenth century. It was famous for its role in the trans-Saharan gold trade.

Son Cubano

Form of Afro-Cuban popular music marked by simple instrumentation and Spanish verse.

Mahabharata and Ramayana

Indian epics, deeply imbued with Hindu teachings.

Berber

Indigenous ethnic group of 11 million people who live mostly in Morocco (one-third of total population) and elsewhere across the Maghreb. Berber name given by Romans to mean barbarians; call themselves Amazigh, means "free people'. Language is Tamazigh. Berbers are typically separatists; have lived in willful isolation from whichever ethnic or national group was in charge of Morocco; their language and culture suppressed until 1990s. Where they live in the Rif Mountains and also in the Atlas mountains against the Sahara is rugged terrain their architecture consists of fortified houses, communal granaries, watchtowers. Although they used to be nomadic, caring for grazing livestock, many are farmers. Many Berber men leave the countryside to earn a living in the cities.

nikah

Islam) the signing of the marriage contract which can be officiated by an imam or another religious figure; groom's father will ask the bride's father on behalf of the son for the daughter's hand in marriage, vows are not usually recited

Jbala/Jbela people

Jbala/Jebela, which literally means "mountain people"; Jbala are located in pockets in Northwest Morocco and in the southern Rif mountains. They speak Jbala Arabic (similar to Hassaniya, influenced again by proximity to Spain).

Gamelan

Musical ensemble of Java or Bali, made up of gongs, chimes, metallophones, and drums, among other instruments.

Subcultures of tourism

Musical subculutures of tourism are groups of people who travel in order to follow specific musical acts.

Tuareg Religion

Muslim since the 7th Century, thought to have facilitated the spread of Islam. Have also retained elements of pre-Islamic cosmology and rituals, particularly Touareg women. For example, Touareg religious ceremonies contain allusions to matrilineal spirits, as well as to fertility, menstruation, the earth and ancestresses. There is an influence of Sufism on spiritual practices.

Roma

Nomadic people, gypsies, Darker skin or hair, originating from india, migrated into eastern europe

Western Sahara

Officially in the eyes of the UN a "disputed territory," claimed by both Morocco and declared an independent political entity called the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic; Morocco controls about two-thirds of its territory along the coast, with the Polisario Front, which has pushed for independence, controlling the interior dessert regions from exile in Algeria. In short, the area had been part of pre-colonial Morocco as its "southern provinces." But the area was colonized by Spain in 1884 (with an upgrade to a Spanish province in 1934), while Morocco became a French colony. After independence, the territory was claimed by both Morocco and Mauritania. Under Moroccan control, it is the last geographic area in Africa to remain colonized. Population: 500,000. Capital City of Laayoune, People referred to as Sahroui/Sahrawi, a mix of indigenous Berbers and Arabic people. Language: Hassaniya Arabic, influenced by Andalusian Spanish

Pelog and Slendro

Pelog is one of the two essential scales of gamelan music native to Bali and Java, in Indonesia. In Javanese the term is said to be a variant of the word pelag meaning "fine" or "beautiful".[2] The other, older, scale commonly used is called slendro. Pelog has seven notes, but many gamelan ensembles only have keys for five of the pitches. Even in ensembles that have all seven notes, many pieces only use a subset of five notes. Slendro (called salendro by the Sundanese) is a pentatonic scale, About this soundPlay (help·info) the older of the two most common scales (laras) used in Indonesian gamelan music, the other being pélog. In Javanese the term is said to derive either from "Sailendra", the name of the ruling family in the eighth and ninth centuries when Borobudur was built, or from its earlier being given by the god Sang Hyang Hendra.[3]

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regions south of the Mahgreb and the desert are referred to as Sub-Saharan Africa.

Quawwali

Sufi music from Pakistan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

wali/bebali/bali-balihan

Tari Wali is a type of dance from Bali which is considered sacred, and only performed during times which are considered sacred. Tari Bebali is a ceremonial dance performed to complete a religious ritual. Tari Balih-Balihan is a secular show performed in a profane arena.

Other Bands

Terekaft is an offshoot of Tinariwen, founded 15 years ago by Diara, a founding member of Tinariwen, and including his two nephews. (Azawad is the name of the homeland that the Touaregs are seeking). Tamikrest is a group of young musicians often regarded as the legitimate heirs of Tinarawen. They sing exclusively in the Tamasheq language of the Tuareg as a means of preserving their traditions. Bombino is Niger's Tuareg guitar hero, compared to Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana. Mdou Moctar (who many of you will be seeing on Thursday) is known for using auto tune and starring in a Tuareg version of Prince's Purple Rain (yes, really. I need to see this). Tartit is a band of five women and four men founded in a refugee camp in Mauritania. Les Filles De Illighad includes one of only two known Tuareg women guitarists in Niger. It's a duo recording named for their tiny Village.

The Mashriq

Term often used in conjunction/contrast with the Maghreb, part of the historic Arab world including countries between the Mediterranean and Iran (also known as the Fertile Crescent or "cradle of civilization.") Conservatively, this would include Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, though the Persian Gulf states of Sudan, Saudia Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, are often included. Egypt is sometimes considered part of the Mashriq, though some consider it a cultural entity of its own. This is the region in which the Arabic language emerged, now dominant language for this region and the liturgical language for Islam. Most of the Mashriq, except Iran and part of Iraq, is dominated by Sunni Muslims.

Odalan

temple ceremony commemorating the anniversary of a temple

Group Doueh

The now legendary Group Doueh have been playing in and around their native Dakhla, in the Western Sahara for over 27 years. The discovery of the group by Sublime Frequencies, via a song snatched from a AM radio broadcast in Morocco in 2005 (as well as an exploratory mission in 2006 that landed Hisham Mayet in the group's compound after chasing an overland trail from Tangiers all the way to the Mauritanian border) sealed the band's relationship with the label. A successful European tour with label mate Omar Souleyman in 2009 ensued and western audiences were finally able to witness the power of the group's mighty live shows. Doueh's guitar heroics and wife Halima Jakani and Bashiri Touballi's soaring vocal interplay entranced all who were present. Famous West African wedding band.

Baris

a Balinese spear dance or warriors' dance with angular movements depicting a sham battle

Tuareg Political situation

There is currently no Touareg nation. A series of droughts in the 1970s and 1980s forced many nomadic/pastoral Touaregs to abandon their herds for a more settled lifestyle. They had few skills and little opportunity for education. Open violence breaks out in Niger in the mid-1980s; a Touareg rebellion begins in Mali 2000. Many Touareg men flee to refugee and military training camps in Libya. In 2012, the northern region of Mali was taken over by an alliance of Touareg Separatistis, Islamist militia, Al-Qaeda, and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa. They imposed Islamic law, including a ban of secular music that was in effect for over one year. The situation is still tense.

Gong kebyar

Type of Balinese gamelan, known particularly for its shimmering sound and interlocking parts

Caetano Veloso

a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s, at the beginning of the Brazilian military dictatorship. He has remained a constant creative influence and best-selling performing artist and composer ever since.

Sunni Muslim

a denomination within Islam that traces its beliefs to the Father-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed named Abu Bakr.

Colotomy

a description of the rhythmic and metric patterns of gamelan music. It refers to the use of specific instruments to mark off nested time intervals, or the process of dividing rhythmic time into such nested cycles. In the gamelan, this is usually done by gongs of various size: the kempyang, ketuk, kempul, kenong, gong suwukan, and gong ageng. The fast-playing instruments, kempyang and ketuk, keep a regular beat.

Autotune

a device or facility for tuning something automatically, especially a piece of computer software that enables the correction of an out-of-tune vocal performance.

Ritual of Boujeloud

a goat/man character from folklore played by a young boy and accompanied by Aisha Qandisha, a beautiful young woman, also goat-legged, whose attempts to seduce men makes them go crazy. The festival guarantees the village healthy crops and purposeful procreation. The liner notes suggest that Boujeloud is pan; while he might be the Roman deities, as many were incorporated into Islam as "genies", he is more likely a survivals from pre-Islamic Caanan or Phoenicia. The presentation by Jones, a member of the Rolling Stones, is positioned to appeal to European and American counterculture.

hijab

a headscarf worn by Muslim women

marriage

a ritual that exists in most cultures that takes separate individuals through a ritual of emerging/transitioning them into a community of married couples, changed social status from individual people to a married couple between two people

gender wayang

a style of gamelan music played in Bali, Indonesia. It is required for wayang and other, most sacred Bali Hindu rituals. The smallest of gamelan ensembles, it requires only two players and is complete at four, the additional instruments doubling an octave above. one of the most ancient musical ensembles existing in Bali, accompanies shadow theatre as well as tooth filings, cremations, and other religious ceremonies.

Pendet

a traditional dance from Bali, Indonesia, in which floral offerings are made to purify the temple or theater as a prelude to ceremonies or other dances. Pendet is typically performed by young girls, carrying bowls of flower petals, handfuls of which are cast into the air at various times in the dance. Pendet can be thought of as a dance of greeting, to welcome the audience and invite spirits to enjoy a performance.

Gnawa [pronounced Knawa]

an ethnic group across the Mahgreb. The term is Berber in origin (from the word aginaw), and most likely means "someone that you can't understand." It was a racial marker, designated black people originating from sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal, The Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, and Sudan). Beginning in the 11th Century, these outsiders arrived in the Maghreb as the result of the slave trade that used them as soldiers to maintain power. By 1200 A.D., there were over 30,000 black soldiers in Morocco. In 1600, all Gnawa - free and enslaved - were conscripted to serve in the army. Many Gnawa musicians today consider their music a music of black struggle, one often compared to American blues. Gnawa practice Sufism in combination with animistic African cultural practices that predate Islam. They claim Bilal, the first black man to convert to Islam, the personal servant of the Prophet Mohammed, and the first muezzin (caller to prayer), as their patron saint. Gnawa are known beyond their ethnic group for music and healing; they believe in spirit possession, which fit with Sufi practices and beliefs. Essaouira in Morocco is the center of Gnawa music.

sintir/guembri

an instrument similar to tinidit in Western Sahara, made from the hollowed trunk of a fig or walnut tree. Plucked lute with three strings two and a half strings) with bass guitar kind of sound. Has metal rings around neck to prouduce jingling sound

World Music 2.0

anything with a truly global reach, young 'diy'ers, plagiarists., Diffusion of global music, Intangibility

The Middle Period

ca 1400-1800 CE (Age of Discovery); Exploration/Mapping by Western Man, Used for Trade/Colonialism/National Security, No Academic Study.

krakebs

castanets-like idiophones made from metal meant to sound like horse hoofs.

The Maghreb

cultural region that can be defined as Northwest African nations along the Mediterranean bordered in the south by the Sahara desert. Includes modern day nations (from west to east) of Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya (and some might also include northern Mali). It is also called the "Barbary Coast" (Barbary for Berber; Morocco also transliterates into Arabic as "al-Maghreb") or the "Land of Atlas" for the Atlas Mountains. Arabic is the dominant language in the Maghreb, though there are a number of indigenous languages and dialects of Arabic spoken.

DJ

disc jockey

ghaita

double reed like oboe, but loud

tbel

drum, played with one flat and one curved stick

walima

feast, wedding celebration within islamic culture

Festival Au Désert

festival held in Essakane, Mali; has attracted major western pop starts like Robert Plant come to play with Malian musicians. Sometimes referred to as the African Woodstock.

Tinarawin

first Touareg band to gain popular success. Based in Kidal, Mali. Formed in a refugee camp in Libya during the first generation of the Touareg rebellion around 1984; first album The Radio Tisdas Sessions released 2002. Lead singer and guitarist Ag Alhabib's father was murdered. He accumulated 19 bullet wounds while fighting in Malian civil war.

lira

flute, oldest instrument

Ngiring

gamelon being used with music, dance or drama. feedback loop guding role

Tatouka Jabalia Instrumentation

ghaita, lira, tebel, tajira, dancing performed by boys

tebel drum

goat skin with two wooden sticks

electric guitar

guitars from Spanish heritage, electric guitars since British invasion

The Punjab

is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northern India. The boundaries of the region are ill-defined and focus on historical accounts.

Jhummar

is a lively form of music and dance that originated in the Multan and Balochistan, also thrived in Sandalbar areas of Punjabin Pakistan. It is slower and more rhythmic form. Performed exclusively by men, it is a common feature to see three generations - father, son and grandson - dancing all together at wedings. The dance is without acrobatics. Each region of Southern Punjab has its own variation of Jhomar

tbal

small drum played while seated, loud outdoor instrument

Bali

is a province of Indonesia and an island on the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Located on the east of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands. striking volcanic scenery; culture is known for elaborate dances and rituals and for handicrafts

Bhangra

is a type of upbeat popular music associated with the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, and the Punjabi diaspora in Europe and North America.The roots of modern bhangra music date back to at least the mid 20th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent

Hassaniya

is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic. It was spoken by the Beni ḤassānBedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of Mauritania and Morocco's southeastern and Western Sahara between the 15th and 17th centuries. Hassaniya Arabic was the language spoken in the pre-modern region around Chinguetti.

Melisma

is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, in which each syllable of text is matched to a single note.

frame drum

like tambourine

Tamazigh

native language of the Berbers

Indonesia

officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia [rɛpublik ɪndoneˈsia]),[lacks stress] is a country in Southeast Asia, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world's largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands,[11] the 14th largest by land area and the 7th largest in combined sea and land area.[12] With over 261 million people, it is the world's 4th most populous country as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country. Java, the world's most populous island,[13] contains more than half of the country's population

kwela

pennywhistle based street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings and a distinctive, skiffle-like beat

Bali Aga

period from the beginning of time into the 500 AD in Bali.

Chaabi

popular music in The Mahgreb, with distinct styles in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt

Taylorism

scientific management, encouraged the development of mass production techniques and the assembly line, led to a revolution in American education of social science. Assembly line form of making music

tajira

second kind of goat skin drum

Gnawa intrumentation

sintir/guembri, krakebs, tbel

"Desert Blues"

term given to certain musics of north and central Africa by westerners, positing a relationship with American blues. Some would say this category begins with Malian/Bambara guitarist Ali Farke Toure, others might focus on bands of Touareg since the 1980s who simply call it "guitar music." The music is described as using a latticework of (most often electric) guitars as combined with centuries old hand percussion and claypot drums. In traditional Touareg music, women play and men dance. Few women, however, play guitars in desert blues bands.

lila

the main traditional context for Gnawa music, a sacred healing ritual. An all-night community gathering that involves a sacrifice (rooster, sheep, cow). An emcee, called a muqadma (usually a woman) directs the gathering. A maalem leads songs with call-and-response singing and in which participants dance and go into a trance, most of them women. (Dancers wear hats with tassels they twirl). Each city has its own order of songs for a lila. Each song has a color association, white, light blue, dark blue, red, green, black and yellow, meant to deal with a certain element of spirit. Lilas were closed to outsiders, limiting the audience for this music.

maalem

the name given to master musicians play guembri. They pass down information orally to younger musicians, who study as apprentices.

cultural appropriation

the process by which cultures adopt customs and knowledge from other cultures and use them for their own benefit

neocolonialism

the use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former dependencies.

typical instrumentation for Sahrawi pop/wedding music

tinidit (related to forbearers of banjo) - made from hollowed log, scrap metal for cover (a women's instrument elsewhere in the Maghreb), electric guitar - guitars from Spanish heritage, electric guitars since British invasion, tbal - small drum played while seated, loud outdoor instrument, frame drum - like tambourine, handclaps, vocals - call and response , organ/synthesizer, texts: traditional sung poetry, Muslim romantic poems, songs of faith (like hymns)

Jajouka/Joujouka

tiny village in the Rif Mountains (population: 600). The people who live there are part of the Berber tribal group Jbala/Jebela, which literally means "mountain people"; Jbala are located in pockets in Northwest Morocco and in the southern Rif mountains. They speak Jbala Arabic (similar to Hassaniya, influenced again by proximity to Spain). Those in Jajouka are Muslim, but practice Sufism.

Kecak

tourist performance including many men creating vocal sounds that resemble a gamelan (Kecak Scene from Baraka)

Shia Muslim

trace their Muslim heritage to Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law.

Touareg/Tuareg

traditionally nomadic/semi-nomadic people who live in the region between Algeria, Mali and Niger in the Sahara desert and arid Sahel region that borders it. This territory was redivided in the 1960s as African nations gained their independence from colonial rulers. Sometimes called "blue people" because of the indigo headwraps and veils worn by Touareg men (not women) that sometimes stain the skin. A subcategory of Berber people who live in confederations consisting of family clan groups with a hierarchy/caste system (from nobility to slaves). Number of Touareg people estimated at 2.5 million. The Tuareg traditionally speak Tuareg languages: Tamasheq, Tamachen, Tamashekin, Tomacheck and Kidal.

lounge music

vague term and sometimes perfectly contradictory, since it can include M.O.R. and mainstream popular singers, as well as polka-pop and any music considered 'cheesy,' often heard in a room in a bar or restaurant with a relaxed, open-ended atmosphere and open space for live music, drinking, and dancing.

Syrian Dabke

wedding music of the Levant, Omar Souleyman.

Iran

what Westerners most often referred to as Persia, an Empire beginning in the 6th Century BC), but was always called Iran by its inhabitants and where Farsi (Perisan) language is spoken. (Farsi is an Indo-European language like English and French, although it uses the same alphabet and script as Arabic.) Most Muslims in Iran (as well as Pakistan, India) are Shia

assouf

word describing their music, which means suffering or longing. It literally translates to "outside the circle of the campfire." lyrical themes include war, exile, the desert, the mirage of love.