Asmâa Hamzaoui was born in Casablanca. She is 22 years old, and those in the know say she is the first woman to become a professional player of the guembri, an African ancestor of the bass, and an emblematic instrument in North African folklore. These instruments are so important and sacred in gnawa music that each maâlem (or master) hands down his honorary title by bestowing his guembri to a disciple, who is then considered to be the new master. This is the other part of the story which has made Asmâa  a maâlema: her father, Mâalem Rachid Hamzaoui, took her to perform with him at a festival when she was just 12 years old, and after that first concert, he decided to pass his own guembri on to her, and thus his title.

In Morocco, the gnawa are descendants of slaves of Sub-Saharan origin, who were deported to the Maghreb region. In the modern day, they are the heirs to an vibrant ritual and spiritual tradition that combines poetry, music and dance. Women traditionally do not perform during the ceremonies and only play the instrument in the private sphere. Going on stage in public is still considered to be taboo. Asmâa Hamzaoui is the exception. In the album “Oulad Lghaba,” the group has remained loyal to tradition in terms of style, but it has introduced its own selection of themes. Separation, suffering and the remembrance of Africa are the dominant subjects.

Casa Árabe’s concert forms part of the tour that is taking these women to many different cities in Spain to present their album “Oulad Ighaba.”

Musicians:
Asmâa Hamzaoui (guembri, vocals, qraqab)
Aicha Hamzaoui (vocals, qraqab)
Soukaina Elmelyjy (vocals, qraqab)



Listen to their album on Soundcloud
Watch their concert on YouTube
Read the interviews they did for Newtral (2019) and  El País (2017)