This year's Mawazine Festival was marked by a distinct experiment, bringing together Moroccan, Algerian and American performers on one stage.
For nine days, Moroccans and visitors enjoyed a colourful showcase of local and foreign music. This year, the Mawazine festival, which ended May 28th, entertained fans with a unique collaboration of renowned Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane and Algerian artist Safy Boutella.
The May 22nd performance also included Moroccan singer Saida Fikri and American bass player Victor Wooden. Throngs of fans flocked to see Morocco's most famous band.
"We gave a lot of importance to this project," said festival artistic director Aziz Daki. "We started to prepare for it last September. Mawazine is not only a festival to offer music concerts, but also it is a place to create music projects."
The festival organisers wanted to "provide a supporting orchestra to the rich heritage of the band of Nass El Ghiwane, whilst preserving the same spirit of the band," he added. "We have chosen Algerian artist Safy Boutella because of his successful track record."
"We had to find a voice that would bring innovation to the sound of the band, and we chose Moroccan singer Saida Fikri," he added. "We also had to find a musical instrument that would remind us of the sound of the 'Goumbri', which is linked to the sound of Nass El Ghiwane, but with a modern tone. So we proposed our idea to American bass player Victor Wooten."
Omar Essayed, one of the founders of Nass El Ghiwane, said, "At first I did not accept the idea, considering that since our beginning 43 years ago, we've used simple musical instruments so I thought that we should preserve our musical identity. But the Maroc Cultures Association was able to convince me."
Essayed became even "more convinced" after meeting with Boutella, Wooden and Fikri.
He added that "the advantage of this experiment was meeting artists from different cultures, and the festival of Mawazine gives the artists ideal conditions for work".
When asked about the possibility of addressing the popular protests in Morocco and the Arab world in their art, he said, "We have addressed the issue of demand for change since the seventies of the last century, in songs such as 'Fein Ghadi Biya Khouya' (Where are you taking me, brother') and 'Ma Hemouni Ghir Rjal Li Dhaou' ('My only concern is the men who were lost')."
For his part, Boutella said that he used "in this project the energy, the poetic side, the spirit of justice and the conscience of people that characterise the music of Nass El Ghiwane".
"I also used Western style techniques not only to give a modern zest to those songs, but to add power and rhythms for the music to be as powerful and accurate as the lyrics of the band," he added.
The song were adjusted to give them "a chance to travel far across the world and allow new people who never heard them to enjoy them", Boutella said.
Regarding the Moroccan-Algerian relations, he said that the two countries are "one nation", and "must overcome the current disgusting situation... and take as an example the European Union".
"I hope that the land borders between the two countries will soon be open," Boutella concluded.
"When I go back to my country, I hope to take with me the spirit of Nass El Ghiwane," Victor Wooten said. "I want my children and grandchildren in the future to know the work of this band. I've never heard their music before my visit to Morocco a few days ago. It was an honour for me to take part in this experience."
© Magharebia.com 2011
