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The Master Musicians of Jajouka are from the town of Jajouka, or Joujouka, which is located in Northern Morocco in the Rif Mountains and their tradition of music is passed down, in a supposedly unbroken line, going back 4000 years. They are part of a family called Attar (a name meaning perfume maker). The music itself is considered to be of the Sufi tradition of Islam and, prior to the colonizations of Morroco by France and Spain, the Attars were the royal musicians of the sultans. Tradition had it that because the music was so powerful, special and so very unique, the Attars never had to herd goats or engage in any other activity, agricultural or otherwise, outside of their particular occupation of living and continuing that musical tradition.
Passed on from elder to child, this is a unique and very complex form of reed and percussion pipe music that relies on drones, improvisation and complex rhythms which is Jajouka-specific.
The flute is called the lira and is considered the oldest instrument in Jajouka. double-reed is called the ghaita. The drum is called the tebel and is made of goat skin played with two wood sticks. There is also another goat skin drum called the tarija which allows for more fast-paced virtuosity. There is also a stringed instrument called the gimbri, which is popular throughout Morocco.
There are similar musical traditions all over Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and also parts of Europe, like Yugoslavia and parts of the UK and Ireland but the Jajouka music really does stand apart, sounding and feeling very seperate. However, no one but the Attars can learn this music and it's impossible to transcribe. Its divine power to heal is a blessingA blessing (from to bless Old English bleodsian or bletsian originally meant "sprinkling with blood" during the pagan sacrifices, the Blots (reference: AHD). A blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the infusion of something with holiness,, a baraka, and cannot be adequately translated into words. The music heals some and sends others into a trance state and, in many cases, heals and sends.
Via Brion GysinBrion Gysin ( January 19, 1916 July 13, 1986) was a writer and painter. He is best known for his rediscovery of Tristan Tzara's cut-up technique while cutting through a newspaper upon which he was trimming some mats. He did many experiments with cut-ups w and Paul BowlesPaul Bowles ( December 30, 1910 November 18, 1999), was a composer, author, and traveler. He was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York to Rena and Claude Bowles. His mother read Edgar Alan Poe to him as a child and he eventually attended the University of Vir in the early fifties to the Beat Generation this music came to the WestWest is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. West is the direction towards which the sun sets at the equinox. It is one of the four cardinal points of the compass, upon which it is considered the opposite of East,. William S. BurroughsWilliam Seward Burroughs ( February 5, 1914 August 2, 1997) was a bisexual American author associated with the Beat Generation writers such as Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and Jack Kerouac. He is best known as the author of Naked Lunch an unusual novel described the music as the oldest on earth and called the players a 4000-year-old rock band.