Lecture on Morocco and Matisse Today in Fez

Morocco and Islamic art had a profound impact on the artist Matisse, and changed the development of modern art. Find out how on Monday June 17 at 6.30 PM in this inspiring lecture by Professor Michael Barry from Princeton University

The artist Matisse’s exposure to Persian miniatures and Morocco had a revolutionary effect on his work and the development of modern art. Professor Barry will talk about Matisse’s experience of these; the meaning and Islamic context of the 15th and 16th century Persian miniatures, and cross-cultural borrowing.

Michael Barry is a Princeton University professor and historian of the greater Middle East and Islamic world. Since 2004 he has taught as Lecturer in Islamic Culture in Princeton's Department of Near Eastern Studies, and also served as consultative chairman of the Department of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2005-2009) and special consultant to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture since 2009. He is an established authority on Islamic art and the history and culture of Afghanistan, on which he has written extensively.

When: Monday June 17 at 6.30 PM
Where: ALC/ALIF Annex Auditorium, across from the American Center (ask the security guards at the American Center)

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Patti Power to the People: Closing Concert of Fes Festival of World Sacred Music 2013

Patti Smith Rocks Bab Al Makina in Fez

"My first concert in Morocco"

“That will be one of my great memories of being here in Fes, the continuous song of the birds.”

The birds had heard Patti Smith, as a crescent moon rose thousands of alpine swifts were wheeling and circling over Bab al Makina, like a swirl of feathered confetti. A lone falcon swooped over the stage, symbolic of the spirited lone huntress of freedom who was to step onto it shortly thereafter.

Patti took to the stage for her opening number Dancing Barefoot, the lyrics of which were to set the tone of the evening: “some strange music draws me in, it makes me come up like some heroine.” This was the subtle beginning of Patti’s call to arms, the first stirring of the uprising that was to follow.

Redondo Beach came next, and then the first track from her new album Banga, called April Fool. The lyrics, like many of Patti’s songs, were a strange fit for a festival of sacred music in Fes, one of Morocco’s most spiritual and conservative cities.

We'll burn all of our poems
Add to God's debris
We'll pray to all of our saints
Icons of mystery
We'll tramp through the mire
When our souls feel dead
With laughter we'll inspire
Then back to life again

After this song, she began to spin slowly like a whirling dervish, her long hair plaited into dreadlocks fanning outwards. Her attire was her classic punk rock look – faded black jeans, white t-shirt with holes, black waistcoat and jacket, black beanie and heavy metallic leather boots.

She sang another song from the new album – Fuji-San – but in a nod to where she was and perhaps in acknowledgment of the incongruity of her performing at a festival with a religious slant, added the lyrics “the spirit of a dervish, whirling into infinity.”

This was the mark of an experienced performer. Not only the deliberate slow spinning before the song – which was noted – but the tailoring of her songs to the local audience.

At this point there was a glitch with the video projection on the screens that flanked the stage. In the time it took to restore the live feed, and in a hugely ironic gesture of bad taste, the logo of Royal Air Maroc was projected onto the screens. For someone so anti-corporate (she sung later in the concert “the dark forces of government bending to corporations”) she would have hated it had she noticed.

In another nod to local sensibilities she declared “we dedicate this next little song to the poet Rumi,” as she launched into Mosiac.

This was a song that she had talked about in her press conference of the previous day, saying it had some Moroccan influence and was “a Sufi style song merged with rock and roll.”

Patti was beginning to warm up and at this point she removed her beanie and tossed it to the drummer before moving on to the most poignant moment of the evening.

“Today is a very special day for me, it is the birthday of my late brother Todd,” she said.

The word ‘late’ was lost on some of the crowd who began to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ at which Patti laughed and continued, “he died in 1994 but his spirit is here with us tonight. Happy birthday Toddy.”

She began Ghost Dance, with the lyrics ‘we shall live again’ having especially strong meaning for her as she remembered her lost brother.

“Shake out the ghost!” she proclaimed, shaking her hands and imploring the crowd to do the same.

“This next song is dedicated to all the poets in history, the poets who did not write, the poets of the future, all the poets,” she said as she picked up her guitar and began Beneath the Southern Cross, a song whose lyrics really show why she is described as the poetess of punk.

Oh
to be
not anyone
gone

this maze of being
skin
oh
to cry
not any cry
so mournful that
the dove just laughs
the steadfast gasps

oh
to owe
not anyone
nothing
to be
not here
but here
forsaking
equatorial bliss
who walked through
the callow mist
dressed in scraps
who walked
the curve of the world
whose bone scraped
whose flesh unfurled
who grieves not
anyone gone
to greet lame
the inspired sky
amazed to stumble
where gods get lost
beneath
the southern cross

The musicians began to really amp up at this point as Patti paced the stage with her guitar, drawing out clanging riffs and heavy drums causing the crowd to whoop with their hands in the air.

Patti then introduced the band – guitarists Jack Petruzzelli and Tony Shanahan, drummer Jay Dee Daugherty and bassist Lenny Kaye.

A reflective moment sitting on the edge of the stage

This was her cue to hand over to her band and as she bowed out and sat on the edge of the stage Lenny Kaye took over, saying “this is dedicated to all the fans of Le Rock Garage!”

While her musicians launched into a heavy punk rock number, Patti jumped off the stage and in front of the sponsors all sitting placidly in the front row. More enthusiastic concert-goers surged forward from the wings and she began to dance surrounded by a circle of fans.

This was a turning point in the concert, inspired by Patti reaching out to her fans and the truly head-banging guitar coming from the stage, a crowd gathered in the front and began to dance frenetically.

Back on stage and moving into Ain’t it Strange, Patti’s performance went up several notches, moving her arms like she was trying to pull the notes out of Lenny Kaye’s bass and bowing down to the mastery of her musicians.

“Transcend, transcending it!” she roared, spitting onto the stage to the amusement and shock of the Moroccan men in the front. This was a woman like none they had come across, a woman with attitude, who rocked, and spat, like a man.

“I MOVE in another dimension!” she declared, strutting and growling. And she truly does.

The introduction to Peaceable Kingdom was another acknowledgement of Morocco: “Today we took a walk and we saw the beautiful declaration of independence of Morocco, written in the blood of your country men. This declaration should be written for all the people of the world. Return to nature, return to the world!”

Her delivery was another reminder of her inner poet, with the lyrics simply spoken with backing music.

Maybe one day we'll be strong enough
To build it back again
Build the peaceable kingdom
Back again

She finished the song by adding “the people have the power, it is decreed. The people rule.”

And the people heard her. As she launched into Pissing in a River the security guards decided it was time for people to retake their seats. They obviously hadn’t been listening or hadn’t reckoned on the effect that Patti’s cry of “the people rule” would have on the crowd.

Standing firm in solidarity, there was a determination not to comply. And collectively the group in front of the stage, inspired by her words, decided to stage a ‘60s style sit-in. They didn’t stay seated for long however, as Patti began her best known hit Because the Night. The music and lyrics could not be ignored and after a couple of verses the crowd jumped to their feet again declaring with rebellious passion “Because the night belongs to us!”

Some improvised poetry was up next, as Patti undertook her most significant lyrical change to the song Land.

“The boy was in the hallway drinking a glass of tea
From the other end of the hallway a rhythm was generating
It was a long hallway of blue and white tiles, blue of the city, blue of the sky
The fragrance of mint wafted around him and he felt. That He. Could. Do. Anything!”

As she sang HORSES, HORSES, HORSES people began pogo-ing with fists in the air and it became a proper, old school rock concert, the likes of which Fes has never seen.

Patti sang to the crowd with her arms outstretched “I’m dreaming of complete freedom unfettered by things, like a bird in the sky” and then continued her Fes-inspired improvisation: “He was deep within the medina and he could smell the herbs, the herbs all around him, he could hear the sound of the gnawa, he could hear the sound of those in prayer, and it was beautiful.”

The song moved straight into Gloria and Patti again demonstrated her gift for infusing her performance with genuine feeling as she approached the edge of stage, leaned on the shoulders of the security guards and reached for the hand of a young girl. “All children are beautiful and we were all once children,” she had said the previous day.

Then came her most controversial lyric, said with emphatic feeling: “Jesus died for someone’s sins. BUT. NOT. MINE.”

“This is our first concert in Morocco!” she enthused as they left the stage. The crowd were not satisfied however and repeated chants of ‘Patti, Patti, Patti’ brought them back out for a rollicking three-song encore.

Summertime Blues was first up, and her moves prompted a man in the audience next to me to say “she may be in her 60s but she can still rock!”

As if she heard him, they moved onto the rocking title track of her new album, Banga.

She has said previously “Banga is a dog in The Master and Margarita (by Mikhail Bulgakov) who loyally sat with his master for 2000 years on the edge of heaven while his master waited to speak to Jesus Christ. I thought that any dog who waited for 2000 years deserved a song. People ask me, what’s Banga about? It’s not about anything really, it’s just an absurd kind of song. It’s our anthem, it means nothing except that we’re all together.”

And all together we were, enthusiastically singing along with Patti as she mimicked the sound of the electric guitar ‘woaw woaw woaw woaw’, then we all howled and barked like dogs, Lenny Kaye playing on stage with his tongue out, panting, and his hands like a dog begging. “Say BANGA!”

The final song, People have the Power, was as appropriate to the mood she had inspired as it was potent, given the residual feeling in Morocco still simmering under the surface in the wake of the Arab Spring.

The power to dream / to rule
to wrestle the world from fools
it's decreed the people rule
it's decreed the people rule
LISTEN
I believe everything we dream
can come to pass through our union
we can turn the world around
we can turn the earth's revolution
we have the power
People have the power…

An expat resident chose this moment to throw his customized Moroccan hat to Patti on stage, who, seeing the metallic CND sign on it, obviously approved and pocketed the gift.

“Dream to vote, to live, to love,” she commanded the crowd.

And her last message was “This is the sacred music festival. Remember that all life is sacred, all people are sacred. Be healthy, be strong, be free.” With that, she left the stage for the last time and in her wake left a group of people newly invigorated by their desire to be free.

"Power belongs to the people" - and the crowd erupted

Audience reaction:

Alfred, who’s hat Patti so approved of was delighted.
“I think she picked it up because there was the symbol of peace on it, she saw the symbol and she got it, she just GOT it – it was so nice to give it to her, I’m so happy. The concert was just great.”

“It was incredible, beautiful, wonderful, she IS rock!”
Selma, Fes

“At the end, the people ruled over the corporations – the area at the front of the stage was a sponsors area and they asked us to move but we stood up and stood strong for the love of the music,” Hassan, Fes

“I thought she was wonderful and I loved the fact that she adapted the songs for here. I wonder if everyone understood the words of her last song though, if you listen to it, it’s a wonderful message but quite severe and not for this culture who is bound by religion and government. I have so much respect for her.” Stephen, Fes/USA

Text: Vanessa Bonnin
Photographs: Suzanna Clarke 

Patti Smith Press Conference
Fes Festival Fringe program
Fes Festival Medina Map
Fes Festival Food! 
Fes Festival Site

The View from Fez is an official media partner of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music

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Lo Còr de la Plana ~ Eclectic, Raucous and Wildly Entertaining ~ Singing in Occitan!

Lo Còr de la Plana - France - At Batha Museum, Fez

From the Plaine quartier of Marseille, Lo Còr de la Plana reinvents the songs of the south, combining the ancient sounds of a Mediterranean both violent and sacred. Natasha Christov reports for The View from Fez

Imagine a fusion of five one-man bands with the energy of a children’s party hopped-up on red cordial, the vocal training of a Vatican choir and you’re half way there.

Lo Còr de la Plana are a wild, fun and very talented group of Frenchmen that hail from the Mediterranean port town of Marseille in Provence. They sing in Occitan, a Romance language that descended from the remnants of the Roman Empire. The language, also called Languedoc, or Provençal, is spoken by about 1,500,000 people in southern France. All Occitan speakers use French as their official and cultural language, but Occitan dialects are used for everyday purposes and show no signs of extinction.

Combining percussive instruments including the bendir (African frame drum) and tamburello (frame drum with cymbals), along with echo sound effects, foot-amplifiers, hand clapping and knee slapping, Lo Còr de la Plana proved a huge hit with the crowd that filled Batha Museum on the last afternoon of the Festival.

Described as a group who ‘reinterpret and reinvent the musical traditions of their home town and the world around it’ that connection to their port town was immediately evident in the first sea shanty-style song they performed.

The audience were transported to a raucous dockside tavern while Lo Còr de la Plana animatedly sung in a style that evoked tales of the sea, dangerous Mediterranean voyages and hair-raising nautical adventures. Their pieces were significant in length, and at times they would begin in one style, only to pause and drop the tempo down to a melancholic chant, seemingly to lament souls lost at sea.

Singing both secular and religious pieces, Lo Còr de la Plana are committed to reviving the Occitan heritage for a new generation. The energetic rapping and humour of lead vocalist Manu Theron took their cause a long way, with the audience at once in stitches and in complete awe, with the jovial rapport between the entire group reminiscent of a casual Sunday jam session with good friends.

Lively yelps, wolf howls and knee slaps would slow to choral chanting and five-part harmonies. At times their arrangements were eclectic bordering on erratic, and their rejection of being labelled “fusion artists” was apparent. Few pieces ‘fused’ together smoothly and occasionally their style appeared one that was trapped between a desire to continue the crowd-pleasing chunky break beats with lively percussion and dancing, and a (perhaps) obligation to showcase a more sombre, classical vocal style.

Fortunately, the humour, charisma and energy of Lo Còr de la Plana captured the crowd from the start and rapturous applause and a standing – dancing – ovation led to a tribal-like encore performance of drums and wild theatrics. Lo Còr de la Plana were a definite highlight of the 2013 Fes Festival of World Sacred Music programme.

Text: Natasha Christov
Photographs: Suzanna Clarke

Fes Festival Fringe program
Fes Festival Medina Map
Fes Festival Food! 
Fes Festival Site

The View from Fez is an official media partner of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music

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Patti Smith Preview ~ Keeping it Simple

At the age of 66, Patti Smith is finally visiting Fes for the first time, to headline the Sacred Music Festival. The press was granted an audience with her yesterday during which she endeared herself to us all with her humility, honesty and child-like wonder.

Her answers to our questions are below, however the experience of meeting her was revealing. The conference took place at sunset in an open courtyard and the birds returning to roost had her rapt with pleasure – as well as referencing them several times during the interview, she was transfixed by them during the interludes when her answers were being translated for the French-speaking press, a serene smile playing across her face as she watched and listened to the birds.

Her mannerisms and demeanour also reflected a girlish quality – she entered wearing her trademark beanie but this was removed after a fashion and she then began to play with her hair, undoing her plaits and shaking her hair free.

Her answers to the more pressing questions about the state of world reflected this too – her perspective is simple and unchanged since she was a young girl. People are the same the world over, we all need the same things, why can’t we all just get along? She may be right – as adults we over complicate things when sometimes simplicity is the best answer. Perhaps, like Patti, we should try to stay in touch with our inner child and regain our sense of wonder.

Here she is, in her own words:

Hello! Nice to meet you all. Fes is such a beautiful city. Whenever I come to a place that I’ve never been before, I always wonder ‘will anybody come?’ They say, ‘you’ll meet the press’ but ‘I think will any press come?’ Because I’m a stranger! So it’s very exciting to see you all here and I’m also very happy to see and hear that the birds are here too! Thank you.

What makes a piece of music sacred?

Huh. Well, I think that’s a very subjective question and the answer would also be subjective. I mean for me a song that is sacred could be a song that my mother sang to me as a child. It could be also Jimi Hendrix singing Are You Experienced? or John Coltrane doing A Love Supreme, or Beethoven. I really think that there’s a sacredness inherent in us all and anyone has the ability to express this and when they do we feel it, whether it’s in a rock and roll song or an opera or an old mountain ballad. There’s sacredness in all of these I think. In fact, this – the bird song right now – that’s sacred music! It’s beautiful.

You are a singer, a painter, a poet – what are you working on today?

Well I’m always working, my children are grown so I have a lot of time to spend on my work. I’m writing a new book and I’m writing poetry, preparing a new album, taking photographs and preparing for a few exhibitions for museums – I’m always working. But right now I’m here and my work right at this moment is talking to you all and performing tomorrow at the concert.

You wrote a song as a tribute to Amy Winehouse. What connected you to her?

Well the song that my bass player Tony Shanahan and I wrote for Amy Winehouse, called This is the Girl really it began as a little poem that I wrote after she died and we made it into a song. I admired her. My connection was as a singer, she was extremely gifted and a very young girl who had such a grasp on the music of my generation – R&B, jazz and rock and roll, but with such a modern spin. She was a truly gifted artist and I was so sad that she didn’t make it but my connection definitely was through an appreciation of her voice.

Is there any Moroccan or North African influences on your new album?

Specifically on our new album I can’t say so, we all listen to Moroccan music, all of my band does, but the Moroccan aesthetic has always influenced me. Not just the music but the aesthetic – the architecture, the art of story telling, the literature. Lenny Kaye, Tony and I we doing some acoustic work in Tangier and we were listening to the gnawa and I will always love the bass lines of Moroccan music. There is much about the Moroccan culture that I love. Our drummer wrote a song called Mosaic which has I think a certain rhythm that shows that influence, it’s more of a Sufi style song merged with rock and roll.

The golden age of rock and roll seems to have passed so what is the future of rock music and can you write good rock music without using drugs?

I think it’s most likely you’ll do better writing without the drugs! But drugs have their place especially in accessing certain spiritual elements within ourselves if they’re used wisely. If they’re used for recreation then usually nothing comes out of it, except maybe some fun, or trouble! But I don’t use drugs to write because I’m struggling for clarity anyway, I’m abstract enough, I don’t need drugs to be abstract!

But in terms of the golden age of rock and roll, rock and roll is always golden to me, it’s always evolving. As a child I saw Little Richard and Elvis Presley and early R&B and it evolved as a cultural voice in the ‘60s and then within the realm of punk rock – there’s been so much evolution within the last 50 years. And then generations will continue to evolve and redefine it. I think it’s very important not to feel that all the great things were already done. We worked to evolve rock and roll as a cultural voice and the next generations will continue. We shouldn’t discourage them by acting as if all the great work was done in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I’m waiting for the greatest work ever to be done by young people in the 21st century; they are the hope of the world.

We have been waiting for you to come to Morocco and you performed in April in Tangier and now in Fes. Why this second time and will it now be a habit? Will we see you every year in Fes?

Why didn’t you tell me you were waiting for me?! I have to say that I’m very surprised, we were never asked to come and I never imagined that we would have a waiting audience, I had no idea. So now that we have been welcomed and asked to come, I will come, I love Morocco. So, once you welcome me, just try to keep me away! There are so many beautiful places here and so much culture and if we are asked again to Fes I’m already saying yes! But you better wait ‘til tomorrow and see if you like it! Then after tomorrow you can decide.

When have you been to Morocco before?

The first time I visited Tangier in the ‘90s, I visited Paul Bowles and so this time I went and passed by his house, with my musicians we went to the Beach Café that Mohammed Mrabet wrote of and that was beautiful we had mint tea and sat by the sea in a café that I’d read about I the ‘70s. We performed for the people and we met Mrabet who was always one of my favourite writers, so I was very happy and we listened to him tell stories. He is such a great storyteller, he told a story in Arabic and it was wonderful. I didn’t understand it but it was fantastic because his sense of the inner narrative is so strong that I felt that I understood the story. And we did go to see the grave of Jean Genet which was wonderful, in an old Spanish cemetery and his grave is facing east and we stayed there for a long time, it was by the sea. And there was a little child, a small boy, who played at the grave and every time we left flowers the boy picked them and gave them back to us. So it was quite beautiful, I think that Jean Genet would like it very much to see that a little boy was playing at his grave.

This is a question that is asked of many philosophers and there is no answer, only your intuition. So, why are human beings on the earth? Is it an accident, random, a logical reason? And, are we going towards something?

It’s very interesting, this is a question that my father used to ask all the time since I was a child, so I have heard this question many times. I would think that, at this time in my life, that we are here to find a balance between ourselves and each other and nature. And when we find the perfect balance between one another and nature we will have a wondrous world. All of our difficulties in the world are because we have not found a way to wholly communicate with one another and to wholly respect nature and I think that we are here to keep evolving to the point where man and nature are one. So, that’s my answer.

This place shows that. I think St Francis would love it here. All the birds that are singing reminds of the painting by Giotto with St Francis and the birds and the stories of the birds covering St Francis and singing. This is amazing. I mean, do you have this all the time? It’s beautiful. I’ll remember that. That will be one of my great memories of being here in Fes is the continuous song of the birds. It’s very nice.

The way you seem to see the world is through words, music and poetry but also your immediate reaction to what goes on around you. What is going on today is not very easy, in certain regions of the world like Syria and other places. You have always reacted and spoken out about what is going on, so I would like to know how you feel about what is going in the region here today?

Well, it would be, this is a very strong question and I would want to be careful not to try to speak for all of the people in the Arab world. I can only talk in a very simplistic, humanistic way. Since I was a very young girl, I was always concerned with what would happen with our relationship with the Arab world because I have always loved Arab culture, even in terms of religions – they way the people pray – the architecture as I’ve said there’s both a sense of sophistication and a sense of deep history. It’s always been very beautiful to me and I react in the same way as I did as a young girl – it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart to see, first of all something like Israel and Palestine. Why does this have to happen? Everyone, when I went there and sang, to me the people were so similar, they all eat the same food, their children play the same games, some of their prophets are the same, it’s heartbreaking. But what is even more heartbreaking is the tribal aspect of their culture, when the tribes fight against one another. It’s the same in my own country – we’re a divided country. Everywhere you go, people are divided, they are fighting against one another.

So I can’t talk about this situation in specifics, but the inhumanity, what is happening to children…but just in the most simple terms, why as people can’t we focus on our uniting principles? Because we have them – our water, our air, the earth, our children – the simplest elements that make it possible for us all to communicate with one another. I always go back to the metaphor of a playground. If you have a playground with Syrian children, Israeli children, Japanese children, Chinese children, you have your own children, everyone has children. Are you going to choose which child should live or die? Which children are more worthy? All children are beautiful and we were all once children. And all people need the same things; they need love, they need to be without fear, they need freedom, they need water, they need bread. And they need to be able to pray to whomever they see fit. Why is it so difficult? That is why I am still contemplating the simplest questions. All the answers should be simple. But I’m not a politician, I’m a mother.

Text and photographs: Vanessa Bonnin

The View from Fez review of the Patti Smith concert is here: Patti Smith 


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Nas al-Ghiwane shine at Fes Festival's Festival in the City

Shadows and light ~ Dominique A and Nass El Ghiwane at Boujloud

Approaching Place Boujloud for the free evening concerts had been a pleasant affair the six previous nights I had attended. I’d enjoyed the gentle ambience of strolling families and wheeling birds in the wide, high walled space, while anticipating matching fine music to mostly unfamiliar names.

This night however felt different; working through a mess of cars and skittering motorbikes, jostling people, and heavy bass blasting down the street, under what sounded like the amplified ghost of Ian Curtis. Apparently tonight’s concert had started on time, and loudly.

Somewhere up front, French indie songwriter Dominique A(né) was performing with two guitars and a drum kit, on a darkened stage.

Dominique A - somewhere in the dark

It was a little disheartening, after worming through the crowd, to find the usual entrance to the ‘press pen’ shut off by reinforced steel fencing. Eventually though, after more crowd worming, chats with various security chaps, and leaving to try again from a different direction, I found a small gate backstage willing to admit me.

Actually, I was relieved to have left for a few minutes. The grinding reverb of the guitars inside the walls had felt like they were my cardiac rhythms in some kind of grunge defibrillation.

Festival publicity had described Dominique A as ‘a poet of the intimate using subtle melodies... always in the shadows.’

As a non-Francophone, I could not appreciate the words, which were sparsely phrased within minimalist melodies. But certainly there were shadows. Indeed, it was not until a few songs in that I realized there was a keyboard in the dark recesses of the stage. Perhaps the black space the musicians were playing in- relieved by rapid thin white flashes- could explain what sounded like 1980’s Casio presets occasionally emerging from what eventually became a sub-Sonic Youth ‘wall of noise’.

Waiting for Nass El Ghiwane

There was no sign of the promised ‘sweet harmony of a wind quintet’. Perhaps they were entirely hidden in the gloom. But really, who cares. Move on. This was not who the surging crowd had come to see.The real drawcard was Morocco’s own- the celebrated, seminal, adored Nass El Ghiwane.

Originating in avant-garde political theater, Nass El Ghiwane are credited as ‘more or less inventing the modern Moroccan popular song’, mixing in contemporary, sometimes political and humanitarian themes to Melhoun melodic poetry; and ‘outside’ instruments to the great rhythmic traditions, such as Gnawa and Sufi, that they are interpreting and developing. The name means “new ghiwanes” referring to a Sufi sect who formerly sang news, religious lore and entertainment for the Berber people.

And then there was light! Nass El Ghiwane take the stage

Like many bands with a long career- their latest album, Baraka, is their 36th since 1973- members have changed over time, as musicians have moved on or passed away. Current lineup includes founders Omar Sayed and Allal Yaala , Chifa Abdelkrim and brothers Rachid and Hamid Batma. A stirring tribute was paid to former members during the evening.

Elias Muhanna, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Brown University, trying to describe their importance in Western terms said: "Nas al-Ghiwane are the Beatles of Morocco, the Rolling Stones of Morocco, the Bob Dylans of Morocco’- intensely famous, innovative and influential".

Writer Joseph Braude called them "perhaps the greatest singing group in the modern history of North Africa,"and it seemed every member of the crowd agreed, singing along from the first bar, and grooving along with them as much as the sardine-can conditions allowed.

Within minutes, photography became near impossible. The lights were on (in fact, the stage lighting was, as usual for these concerts, excellent.) But the front stage ‘press pen’, behind its reinforced steel fencing, was as packed and seething as the rest of the square. Surely not all these pogoing youth, elegant ladies and dancing children were journalists?

This was clearly a ‘must be at’ event for the people of Fes and, judging by the amount of attempted documentation going on, one to show your grandkids you’d been at. Phones, cameras, flashlights, iPads, babies... all were held aloft amidst waving hands.

Singing with a gruff intensity, driven by diverse and hypnotic traditional percussion syncopating across the constantly riffing guembri and banjo, Nas al-Ghiwane more than excited the audience. Human pyramids of boys formed amongst the throng, some bare chested, their t-shirts spinning like the tassels on Gnawa hats.

Human pyramids of boys formed amongst the throng

Not that this was a uni-generational or uni-style crowd. While girls posed and boys jostled to be included in front row shots, one elderly lady became very concerned I may inadvertently photograph her. A kindly policeman loaned her his orange vest to protect herself. There were still plenty of orange vests to go around. Security was serious, with what appeared to be khaki-clad soldiers filing in after midnight to double the front guard in case of pitch invasion.

I began to be glad of the little back gate. And that one of the black suited security chiefs was able to translate what singer Rachid Batma was saying towards the end, that was making the crowd near hysterical with cheers and chants.

"He is asking what is the difference between people, like you and me. And answering himself:
‘There is not a difference, we are all people. Feel good, whoever you are." Cheers, Mr Security Man. Thanks Nass El Ghiwane. And thanks again, Fes Festival and your excellent production teams for the great work you do to bring (mostly) wonderful music to the people.

Wending their way home - at 1.30 am 

Any idea that the Festival is for just the ‘elite’ or ‘the ville nouveau’ was blasted by this night’s concert. Heading home through the Medina at 1.30 am after this free event meant joining a human river flowing down Talaa Sgira; the youth, the grandmas, the couples, the babies, the little Aussie traveller. We were all in it together, going in the same direction, and we felt good.

Text and photographs: Gabe Monson

Festival in the City Final night
Boujloud 10.30
Karim Ziad followed by the legendary Hamid Kasri

Fes Festival Fringe program
Fes Festival Medina Map
Fes Festival Food! 
Fes Festival Site

The View from Fez is an official media partner of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music


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Bill Dickens and the Ladysmith Chicago Gospel Experience Band Rock Fes Festival

Ladysmith Chicago Gospel Experience - South Africa – USA 
Leanne Faine & Favor – Chicago – USA
Ladysmith Red Lions – Ladysmith – South Africa
Butterscotch – beatbox
Bill Dickens and the Ladysmith Chicago Gospel Experience Band

This exceptional project is directed by bassist Bill ‘The Buddha’ Dickens, one of the legends of Black American music, and conceived by artistic producers Mohamed Beldjoudi and Larry Skoller. It is an exciting encounter between one of the great voices of Gospel in Chicago, Leanne Faine and her Favor Ensemble with the Ladysmith Red Lions, a Gospel group from the town of the same name in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

An exceptional appearance by Butterscotch, a young Californian expert on the beatbox, will make this evening one of the great events of this year’s Festival.

This show once again demonstrates how Gospel music can transform the sufferings of the past and overcome daily difficulties, our own just as well as those of the African slaves of old who considered themselves like the Hebrew captives in Egypt.

The path was long and hard from the cotton fields of the South to the re-election of President Obama in 2012, just like that from apartheid to the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa on 27 April 1994.

Gospel music started out as work songs or shouts, poetic declamations by African slaves that gave a hint in the 18th century of what the negro spiritual would become. Today it forms the backbone of all black American music from jazz to soul, from R&B to funk. In the heart of Chicago, home of the blues, many churches are home to artists of exceptional talent such as Leanne Faine. She is an energetic and ecstatic Gospel diva who has sung with both the Reverend James Cleveland and Shirley Caesar.

Leanne Faine in full flight

Thus the encounter between Leanne Faine and Favor with the Ladysmith Red Lions from the town of Ladysmith will prove that the African soul has been able to conserve its warmth and its faith, despite today's violence in ghetto-like city areas and despite the ever-present memory of captivity and exclusion. Or, as Zeyba Rahman told the audience.... “It’s going to be a fascinating programme tonight because the Ladysmith Red Lions walk softly while Leanne Faine and Favor have real punch.”

The Concert

The forest of mike stands on stage was the first sign this was going to be one helluva show. Parents figured it’d be fun so brought their kids, pacifying them with chocolate and sandwiches waiting for show to begin.

The night opened with South African acapella singers, Ladysmith Red Lions, who jogged onto the stage in red and yellow shirts, black trousers, red socks and brilliant white sneakers. Their voices were like molasses, smooth, dark and sweet. The harmony was a soothing sound, like being wrapped in an aural hug - the sound of effortless harmonies and a series of relaxed but perfectly coordinated moves. Aside from the lead who did his own thing, the rest of the group appeared to be operated by a very skilled band of puppeteers as they waved, swayed and turned in unison. One number had them each holding a stick about a meter long vertically by base, thrusting it upwards, while the lead took matters further picking up a huge mike stand and wielding like a weapon.

While the lyrics might have been wonderful, for those of us who couldn’t understand them it mattered not a jot. One number consisted entirely of the singers making crisp percussive ‘um’ sounds, nothing more being needed with voices like these.

Concerts like this threaten to put musicians out of business with next act being Butterscotch, an extraordinary beatbox artist with devilish eyebrows who you’d swear has an orchestra in her mouth. She recorded live sound sequences by operating foot pedals and mixed them on stage, layering them into a version of Joshua fought the battle of Jericho that was both moving and eerie.

Butterscotch

Her talent shone brightest when performing alone or with the Red Lions but her sound was drowned somewhat when the musicians – bongo, drums, guitar, keyboard - joined in. Let’s not forget the extended range bass played by the legendary Bill Dickens (see photo below).

The instrument which he held high on his chest looked like something a cartoon super hero might fly around on, all white fins and curves. When the musicians started up in succession what they built was fabulous, thumping – and loud.

Leanne Faine and Favor

Nobody was going anywhere but more performers kept arriving. Next white clad Leanne Faine and her singers, Favor, seamlessly joined Ladysmith until song’s end when the South Africans left for a while. Now the night was all about gospel, and Lordy, it was good.

It was all about gospel - and Lordy, it was good! 

The gospel gang were having a blast and so was the audience. Faine's early attempts to get people clapping or waving met with little cooperation but before long everyone got into the spirit. Their infectious rhythms had people dancing both between the seats and in aisles.

All that fun was hard work with much face mopping in between high fives. At one point Leanne Faine climbed down from the stage and kept singing as she mingled with the audience, a sure fire way to get people involved.

By the final number ‘Oh Happy Day’ she had the entire audience, regardless of religion, singing, clapping and praising gospel music. Oh happy day indeed.


Text: Stephanie Clifford-Smith
Photographs: Suzanna Clarke, Vanessa Bonnin


Coming up at the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music

Saturday June 15th
Batha Museum 4pm
Lo Còr de la Plana - France
From the Plaine quartier of Marseille, Lo Còr de la Plana reinvents the songs of the south, combining the ancient sounds of a Mediterranean both violent and sacred.

Bab Al Makina 9pm
Patti Smith - USA

Festival in the City 
Boujloud 10.30
Karim Ziad followed by the legendary Hamid Kasri

Sufi Nights at Dar Tazi
Saturday june the 15th : Tariqa Ouazzania 11pm

The Weather - Sunday will be a hot 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 Fahrenheit) during the day and down to 16C (60.8 F) at night. 
Sunday will be hot with 34C (93.2 F) with night temperatures of 16C (60.8 F). Drink plenty of water! 

Fes Festival Fringe program
Fes Festival Medina Map
Fes Festival Food! 
Fes Festival Site

The View from Fez is an official media partner of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music

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