SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27    8:00 PM    Monterey Conference Center, Serra II Ballroom, Monterey
Hassan Hakmoun
Hassan Hakmoun is a master of the sintir, a three-stringed long-necked African lute producing the bass tones which underlie the derdeba trance ceremonies of the Gnawa, Morocco’s descendants of Black African slaves brought to the county centuries ago from the region of today’s Mali.

The derdeba are all-night ceremonies where evil spirits believed inhabited particular persons or places are exorcised by the hypnotic playing and chanting of the Gnawa musicians.

The pentatonic scale and driving rhythms of the sintir are instantly appealing to many Western ears, and Hakmoun, more that any other Gnawa master musician, has succeeded in presenting this music outside of Morocco to widespread critical acclaim.

Hassan Hakmoun’s performance is the incontrovertible evidence of a poised spirituality, hand-in-hand with a certain unbridled energy. The New York Times has been effusive in its praise of Hassan’s “spellbinding fusion of Moroccan and Arabic sounds,” while The Los Angeles Times calls the music “penetrating” and “emotional.”
listen
In Morocco, the descendants of slaves, known as the Gnawa, developed a music that combines the sinuous melodies and circular motifs of Arab trance chants will the chattering polyrhythms and call-and-response vocals characteristic of West and South African music.
- Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post

“There’s no denying Hakmoun as an innovator and a trendsetter. His restless spirit, soaring, soulful gut cry and abiding loyalty to roots ensure his place in Gnawa history. Moreover his commitment to the evolution of his ancestral music guarantee he’ll remain a force to be reckoned with in the future.”
- Global Rhythm
http://hassanhakmoun.com/
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