Mohamed Errebbaa on the Gnawa history moving to Bristol and his new project

Mohamed Errebbaa is a Moroccan master musician living in Bristol with his young family. He plays the three-stringed Gnawa bass lute, the guembri, and received the title of Maalem (master of the Gnawa tradition) at the age of 26, making him one of the youngest masters.

Mohamed has performed internationally and across many festival stages including recent UK festivals WOMAD, Shambala and he is a fixture of Bristol’s international musical community.

As well as his Gnawa tradition, he is an increasingly celebrated and exciting musical collaborator, most recently with global music adventurer Justin Adams.

His new six piece group Tagna Groove emerged from an Arts Council funded project that looks to platform traditional Gnawa music in a contemporary international context with UK based jazz, soul & Afro-funk musicians.

Their upcoming debut album Hali will be released on December 24 and they celebrate with a launch party at The Jam Jar on December 20 put on by Benny Dart of Music at the World Junction.

As part of the launch, Mohamed sat down to answer some questions about his music and the new album.

What brought you to Bristol Mohamed and how do you find the musical community here?

I never had plans to be in Bristol: I met my wife in 2018 in Essaouira, a small city in the south of Morocco; we moved to the UK in 2020 just before the Covid lockdown so obviously it was hard in the beginning, no gigs, no way to socialise and make new friends.

I was lucky because my partner is a singer and introduced me to a lot of musicians in Bristol who were so welcoming, very understanding and respecting of other cultures.

What was it like growing up in Rabat and tell us about your early musical experiences, you began performing with traditional Sufi brotherhoods from the age of ten, I understand?

I was first influenced by my musician uncle, a member of a traditional band that performed at weddings amongst other events in Rabat, across Morocco & abroad. I used to go with them, watch and learn and my grandmother’s neighbourhood was also very popular for gnawa ceremonies which I witnessed from a very young age.

At the age of ten we moved to Casablanca and there I met some of the leaders of lssawa and dacha marrakchiya [a sacred practice of heavily percussive African trance rhythms with religious incantation]. I attended every ceremony which the masters hosted.

As soon as I learned how to sing and play the rhythms, I was invited to join my first Gnawa master, Moulay Ahmed, at the age of 15 and I spent two years with him; I received the guembri from my master Abderahim Benthami at the age of 26 after a long journey of learning, one we are still on, always learning and respecting the elders.

You travelled through Morocco for a decade, studying with Gnawa masters and drawing on rich regional musical traditions.

Clearly this is at the core of your playing: can you tell us something about the impact of this intense apprenticeship exploring such deep and ancient musical traditions? Living away from Morocco at the moment, how do you nourish and develop this?

Gnawa is oral music and you learn it by listening and watching…every region of Morocco has its own way of playing though its foundations are the same.

You must play for your master and observe their teaching; the learning contains a large repertoire of songs in a particular order, knowledge of each song and the part it belongs to, which colour of the seven colours represent it, which incense goes with it, specific collective and solo dancing for each song.

We begin with percussion, the krakeb: the krakebs are the hand held metal percussion that accompany the Guembri. Early in the Gnawa tradition, the slaves utilised the shackles they had around their hands and legs and the rhythms they represent could be the sounds of the master’s horses and their own walking footsteps.

There was a mixing of rhythms when slaves from different tribes met. We then have the Gnawa drums and then onto the guembri.

Living in Bristol has made me use my knowledge of Gnawa music through workshops, masterclasses and hosting Gnawa ceremonies, opening out the Gnawa experience to the western diaspora.

My nourishment is going twice a year to Morocco and keeping the connection with the musicians, the masters, the land and the ancestors and by knowing that people are proud to see Gnawa music respected all over the world .

In its simplest explanation Gnawa is the ancient tradition of religious observation through ritual poetry and rhythmic music and dances. I understand ritual ceremonies can last throughout the night and even for several days. Can you give us some insight into what Gnawa is?

Gnawa are the descendants of the slaves that were brought from sub-Saharan countries to north Africa beginning in the eleventh century; they refer to their origins among the Bambara, Hausa & Fulani people.

All of them had been freed and some joined the royal Black Guard of the sultan, others were working in sugar fields and vegetable plantations; most of them converted to Islam.

The Gnawa merged into the Moroccan society after they received their freedom and mixed with Arab and Berber peoples. They began to practice their gatherings again, twice a year or in special events.

These African ritual ceremonies were isolated at first because initially Moroccans couldn’t understand what it was about. The next generation of those who mixed with Arab and Berber peoples could understand both languages and so translated lyrical passages.

The music and the rituals were shaped to fit the Muslim community; Gnawa sing about their lands of origins, their experience as slaves, the enslavers and about their journey from slavery to freedom.

There are also passages of songs about God and the prophet Mohammed and other parts for Muslim saints in the Middle East and the African spirits.

The Lila or Derdba (Gnawa ceremony) is rich in songs, colours , music, dance; costumes, and incense. It’s held by a woman moqaddama who is experienced and can tell what rituals are needed for the person who requires healing and it allows participants to enter the trance state .

How do you preserve these ritual elements in a context outside of where & how Gnawa music would usually be performed?

There is always the trance element that we bring into the performances, but we keep rituals only during the ceremonies.

So master musicians are fusing their ancient traditions with musical sounds and forms from other cultures, how did this come about for you?

I have always been open to all kinds of music despite my immersion in traditional learning.

In the last 12 years I have played in many collaborative musical disciplines such as reggae, jazz, rock and soul and I always try to fit in without losing the identity of the culture that I represent.

Where did the writing of your new album Hali begin? How did you find your group Tagna Groove?

I was lucky to get funded by the Art Council England earlier this year; I was introduced to the trumpet player David Mowat by my wife when I arrived in Bristol and we played together with Emmy.

I knew Chris from Snazzback as they had invited me previously to play a gig together; Jon was a shout out for a keyboard player on social media.

I started working on Hali in January 2023, except the song Hali itself was written a few years ago and was updated this year.

The musician will perform at The Jam Jar for his album launch party. photo: Benny Dart

I understand Said Anazoure, who is opening the launch show, is new in Bristol. Could you explain just a little of what the instrument he will be playing is and the roots of the traditional Berber music of Morocco?

Said Anazoure is an Amazigh artist from Marrakech. He plays the loutar and ribab which he will perform with the Moroccan percussionist Mustapha Aboukassem El Idrissi.

The Amazigh rababa is considered a musical instrument relied upon by the great musicians in southern Morocco and due to its ancient name it is called the “Lady of Melody” and it has a long history. It is the instrument that would accompany one of the great “ruwais” in southern Morocco [chief / leader].

Any travelling singer carries his ribab to sing his poems with melodies, tones, and rhymes that respond to what society is experiencing and the troubles, emotions, pains, joys, and issues of love and separation that are within it.

What can the audience expect at your album launch party?

Soaring vocals and bass-heavy grooves. Intensity in stories of arrival and departure. This performance will harness the deep trance power of the Gnawa repertoire as well as showcasing the old African funk, blues & jazz in bringing elements of trance to lift the spirits and dance.

Finally, what are your hopes & plans for the new year ahead?

I hope that the album will be successful and people will love the music that we share with them and that people will listen to it back home.

Personally I look forward to a busy year full of gigs and festivals and finally I hope that the wars stop everywhere in the world and people live in peace and harmony.

Mohamed Errebbaa & Tagna Groove play at The Jam Jar on December 20.

Tickets are available at https://hdfst.uk/e99622

Main photo: George Harrison

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