Concert by Justin Adams & Mohamed Errebbaa, introduced by a lecture on gnâwi music

Programme

• 7:00 pm - Doors open

• 7:45-8:30 pm - Round-table discussion "Gnâwi between musical cross-fertilizations and cultural issues" with musicians Justin Adams and Mohamed Errebbaa. Moderator: Mourad Yelles, professor emeritus of Maghreb and comparative literature at Inalco

• 8:30-9:00 pm - Entracte, possibility to eat on site

• 9:00 pm - Concert by Justin Adams & Mohamed Errebbaa

Part 1 - conference "Gnawa between musical cross-fertilizations and cultural issues"

This round-table discussion will bring together musicians Justin Adams and Mohamed Errebbaa as well as Professor Mourad Yelles on the theme: "Gnawa between musical cross-fertilizations and cultural issues".

Based on their personal, artistic or academic experiences, the speakers will address gnâwi as a musical practice, as a spiritual and mystical experience, but also as a living tradition whose transmission is reinvented between traditional frameworks and transcultural circulations.

Parallel to his academic research, he regularly publishes creative texts (poetry, short stories).

Among his works and publications: Le Hawfi. Poésie féminine et tradition orale au Maghreb (Alger, OPU, 1990), Les Miroirs de Janus. Littératures orales et écritures postcoloniales (Alger, OPU, 2002), Cultures et métissages en Algérie. La racine et la trace (Paris, L'Harmattan, 2005), Habib Tengour. L'arc et la lyre. Dialogues (1988-2004) (Algiers, Casbah Éditions, 2006), Traduire la pluralité du texte littéraire (with Patrick Maurus and Marie Vrinat-Nikolov, Paris, Éditions L'Improviste, 2015).

Part 2 - Concert by duo Justin Adams & Mohamed Errebbaa

From his work with Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart to his collaborations with Robert Plant, Tinariwen, Rachid Taha, Juldeh Camara and singer-songwriter Souad Massi, whose albums Sequana (2022) and Zagate (2026) he produced, Adams has consistently maintained a deep connection to the trance music of North Africa, which remains an integral part of his sound.

This new project sees him team up with Errebbaa, who began performing with traditional Sufi brotherhoods in Rabat, Morocco at the age of ten, and received the title of Maalem (master of the Gnawa tradition) at the age of 28, after working with many of the great Gnawa players.

Errebbaa trained in percussion with different types of North African traditional bands. His initiation into the Gnawa tradition took 10 years. He then received the Guembri from the hand of his Master and the title of Maalem or Master.

Gnawa music connects elements of the Arab music of the North and the music of sub-Saharan Africa with Sufi mysticism.  

Their live set harnesses the deep trance power of the Gnawa repertoire as well as drawing from Adams’ back catalogue, and showcasees new material, bringing elements of desert blues and heavy groove to lift the spirits and dance.

For more information: Justin Adams website

About gnâwi music

Gnâwi music, also known as gnawa or gnaoua, is a North African musical genre introduced to Morocco from the 15th century by sub-Saharan slaves. A singular example of cultural cross-fertilization, it lies at the crossroads of sub-Saharan, Arab and Berber heritages. Closely linked to therapeutic and spiritual trance rituals, it is characterized by hypnotic rhythms, powerful percussion and spellbinding chants. Its emblematic instruments include the guembri (a bass-like stringed instrument), the qaraqeb (a metal percussion instrument) and the tbal (a large drum).

Over time, gnâwi music has gone beyond the confines of traditional brotherhoods to meet an international audience. Today, gnâwi groups take part in numerous festivals and artistic exchanges, both in Morocco and abroad, notably through the Festival Gnaoua et Musiques du Monde d'Essaouira.

Inscribed since 2019 to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, gnâwi music continues to evolve in contact with contemporary influences, while preserving its strong identity, spiritual and cultural dimension.

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