Music from Algérie – Hasna El Bacharia

Hasna El Bécharia is extraordinary. She is still the only woman in the Maghreb to play gnawi music, a ceremonial beat that has remained an exclusively male preserve since the animist beliefs of the Bilad es-Sudan, (in Arabic, the Land of the Blacks – today’s Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Niger and Chad) encountered the monotheist faith of Islam from across the desert. Her choice has exposed her to a great deal of rejection and sarcasm, but Hasna’s mind and soul are irrevocably bound up with the mystic trance music learnt from her father, a pious man who was himself a maâllem or master of gnawi (the plural of gnawa) syncretism, a black Sufism forged by the descendants of sub-Saharan slaves in White Africa, also called diwan in East Algeria and stambali in Tunisia. Here is her song “Hakmet Lakdar”

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Music from France – ONB Orchestre National de Barbes

The Orchestre National de Barbes (ONB) is a french band formed in 1995 (1996)  by bassist and composer Boukella Youcef, he  was a former band member of  Cheb Mami.

This group, which can be categorized as a World Music band , merges many genres as the Maghreb Chaabi, Rai, Gnawa music with world music such as salsa, reggae, jazz, funk and the rock to create a new original sound. (awesome^^ )

Here is their song “Lalaoui”

and a Rolling Stones Cover