Moroccan trance and ancestral rhythms reimagined by Asmâa Hamzaoui and her all-women band
Asmâa Hamzaoui is one of the biggest female names in gnawa music. With her group Bnat Timbouktou, she performs a catchy kind of evangelical desert blues. Although women play an essential role in gnawa rituals, there have never been many female gnawa musicians. Asmâa Hamzaoui and Bnat Timbouktou are part of the new wave that is changing all that. Hamzaoui hails from the Moroccan city of Casablanca. The gnawa culture was instilled in her from a young age, and it was her father who encouraged her to form her own group, which ultimately became Bnat Timbouktou. Their album L’bnatfocuses on female traditions in and contributions to gnawa culture. During Bnat Timbouktou’s performances, the guembri - a three-string strumming instrument - and Asmâa Hamzaoui’s expressive voice are afforded a central role, and the sound is enriched with the rhythmic percussion of the qraqab, an instrument that resembles metal castanets and is highly typical of gnawa music.
Although Hamzaoui is a traditionalist in many respects, she can also be described as a pioneer. She wants to ensure the survival of gnawa music, but does this through transformations.
‘For us gnawa stands above all other music. It is part of our childhood, is spiritual, healing and provides an anchor point.’