Gnawa Diffusion is an Algerian

Gnawa music Gnawa music (Ar. ) is a body of Morocco, Moroccan Religious music, religious songs and rhythms. Emerging in the 16th and 17th centuries, Gnawa music developed through the cultural fusion of West Africans brought to Morocco, notably the Hausa p ...

band based in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The group's lead singer, Amazigh (literally meaning 'Free Man' in

Tamazight The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berber communities, who ar ...

), is the son of the

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n writer and poet

Kateb Yacine Kateb Yacine (; 2 August 1929 or 6 August 1929 – 28 October 1989) was an Algerian writer notable for his novels and Play (theatre), plays, both in French language, French and Algerian Arabic, and his advocacy of the Berberism, Berber caus ...

. Although there is a strong Gnawa influence, the band is noted for its mix of reggae and roots music. Gnawa Diffusion is very popular in Algeria and is also well known in many other countries including Morocco, Tunisia and France. The band's lyrics are in

Algerian Arabic Algerian Arabic (, romanized: ), natively known as , or , is a variety of Arabic spoken in Algeria. It belongs to the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum and is mostly intelligible with the Tunisian and Moroccan dialects. Darja () means "eve ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. Gnawa Diffusion started their career in 1993 with the release of the album ''Légitime différence''. Members of the band: *

Amazigh Kateb Amazigh Kateb (born September 16, 1972) is an Algerian singer and musician. Early life He emigrated to France in Grenoble in 1988, he was a member of the group Gnawa Diffusion (formed in 1992). He is the son of the writer Kateb Yacine Ka ...

- vocal and

gimbri The sintir (), also known as the guembri (), gimbri, hejhouj in Hausa language, is a three stringed skin-covered bass guitar, bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people of Morocco. It is approximately the size of a guitar, with a body carved fro ...

* Mohamed Abdennour (Ptit Moh) -

Algerian mandole The Algerian mandole (mandol, mondol) is a steel-string fretted instrument resembling an elongated mandolin, widely used in Algerian music such as Chaabi, Kabyle music and Nuubaat (Andalusian classical music). The name can cause confusion, as ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

krakebs Qraqeb or garagab (), in English often transliterated as krakeb, are a large iron castanet-like musical instrument primarily used as the rhythmic aspect of Gnawa music. Gnawa today is part of the North African culture and is inherent in the Ma ...

, choir * Pierre Bonnet -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Philippe Bonnet - drums * Salah Meguiba - Keyboard, oriental percussion, choir * Pierre Feugier -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, choir,

* Abdel Aziz Maysour * Amar Chaoui - percussionist,

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

The lead singer's lyrics are often controversial. Themes range from discussions of poverty in

or corruption in government to denunciations of global military actions and perceived imperialism. Nevertheless, in spite of a strong political direction, this band also has numbers which focus on

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

and improvement.

Discography

* 2012: ''Shock El Hal'' * 2007: ''Fucking Cowboys'' ( D'JAMAZ Production) * 2003: ''Souk System'' (

Warner Warner can refer to: People * Warner (writer) * Warner (given name) * Warner (surname) Fictional characters * Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs'' * Aaron Warner, a character in '' Shatter M ...

) * 2002: ''DZ Live'' (

Next Musique NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...

) * 1999: ''Bab el Oued'' - Kingston ( Musisoft)Review

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* 1997: ''Algeria'' ( Melodie) * 1993: ''Légitime'' différence

References

External links

- an interview with the lead singer in English.

French interview. {{Authority control Algerian musical groups 1993 establishments in France