Moroccan Trance Music, Vol. 2: Sufi

• Artist: The Master Musicians of Joujouka/The Gnou Brotherhood Of Marrakesh
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1996
• Total Time: 58:18
• Genre: World

Review

Moroccan Trance Music II presents two of Morocco's finest traditional ensembles, the Gnoua Brotherhood of Marrakesh and the Master Musicians of Joujouka, in live outdoor performances. The recordings are excellent, capturing not only the musicians, but the ambience of the crowd and ceremony as well. In Morocco, ceremonial music is not simply the soundtrack to a ceremony; it's an important, vital part of the community and a means to experience other realities, and has been for literally hundreds of years. You can almost hear the crowd being brought into the music and transported. The Gnoua Brotherhood tracks are led by the gimbri, a three-stringed bass lute accompanied by light percussion, handclapping, and call-and-response vocals. By contrast, only one of the tracks by the Master Musicians of Joujouka has vocals, and the main instrument is the ney, which has a far gentler tone than the double-reeded ghaita that they are more closely associated with. The album is very well sequenced: the Gnoua Brotherhood tracks are quite similar, with changes to the tempo being the most obvious difference. These tracks segue nicely into the first Master Musicians cut, which retains the percussion, vocals, and handclapping, but switches the gimbri for ney. The next track drops the vocals, leaving just ney and percussion, and their final track is simply unaccompanied neys. It's the perfect way to close the album: a gentle, mellow conclusion to a remarkable, nearly hypnotic journey. They don't call it trance music for nothing. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Sidi Musakar			(6:19)
Jilalay/Moulay Abdulah/Moulay Braihim			(8:39)
Hamasha Hamdushi			(7:35)
Seet Yumala Youmalay			(5:09)
Djemma el Fna, Marrakesh, November 8th 1994			(11:45)
Moulay Abdeslam		The Master Musicians of Joujouka	(3:59)
L' Hedera (The Music of Sidi Ahmed Sheich)		The Master Musicians of Joujouka	(6:58)
L' 'Hedera		The Master Musicians of Joujouka	(7:54)

Credits

Adeslam Dahnoun (Group Member), Abdellah "Larachi" Ziyat (Flute), Joe Ambrose (Liner Notes), Frank Rynne (Design), Joe Ambrose (Mastering), Abdu Latif (Group Member), Mohamed Hamri (Liner Notes), Frank Rynne (Layout Design), Ahmed "Titi" El Attar (Vocals), Ahmed "Titi" El Attar (Drums), Munir Majdoubi (Drums), Joe Ambrose (Vocals), Ahmed El Bouhsini (Flute), Brion Gysin (Writer), Mujehid Majdoubi (Group Member), Lassi Demlac (Group Member), Ahmed "Titi" El Attar (Group Member), Adeslam Dahnoun (Flute), Tayib Taiybe (Group Member), Frank Rynne (Producer), Ahmed El Bouhsini (Group Member), Christopher John Campion (Layout Design), Radi El Khali (Group Member), Abdu Latif (?), Abdeslam "Syira" Eertcubi (Group Member), Mujehid Majdoubi (Flute), Radi El Khali (Drums), Radi El Khali (Vocals), Dar Hassan (Engineer), Guy Marc Hinant (Post Producer), Mohamed El Attar (Group Member), Tayib Taiybe (?), Mohamed El Attar (Flute), Samir Zucari (Group Member), Hamri The Painter Of Morocco (Cover Painting), Hassan I'Gadiri (?), Said Damir (?), Mohamed "Komsi" Mokhchan (Flute), Mounir Majdoubi (Drums), Hassan I'Gadiri (Group Member), Frank Rynne (Liner Notes), Mounir Majdoubi (Group Member), Mustapha Hakmoun (Group Member), Abdeslam "Syira" Eertcubi (Flute), Joe Ambrose (Track Selection), Joe Ambrose (Design), Joe Ambrose (Layout Design), Lassi Demlac (?), Joe Ambrose (Video Stills), Frank Rynne (Mastering), Mokhtar Jaghdal (Drums), Abdellah "Larachi" Ziyat (Group Member), Christopher John Campion (Design), Frank Rynne (Track Selection), Said Damir (Group Member), Blanca Nyland (Translation), Mokhtar Jaghdal (Group Member), Mohamed "Komsi" Mokhchan (Group Member)