Jajouka, Jahejouka or Zahjoukah (Tifinagh: ⵣⴰⵀⵊⵓⴽⴰ' or ''Jahajūka'') is a village in the Ahl-Srif mountains in the southern end of the

Rif Mountains The Rif (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people. ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. The mountains are named after the Ahl-Srif tribe who populate the region.

The musical heritage

Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar

Jajouka or Zahjouka is well known as home to two

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

trance musicians groups, The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Joujouka managed by Frank Rynne. The music from Jajouka attracted the attention of writers

Paul Bowles Paul Frederic Bowles (; December 30, 1910November 18, 1999) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his ...

and

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

in the 1950s because the Sufi trance musicians there appeared to still celebrate the rites of the god Pan.

Brion Gysin Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the ...

, who had been introduced to the master musicians by

Mohamed Hamri Mohamed Hamri (August 27, 1932 – August 29, 2000), commonly known as Hamri, was a Morocco, Moroccan painter, restauranteur, and author; he helped write and produce Sufi music. Self-described as "The painter of Morocco," Hamri was one of the ...

, propagated this idea. Gysin linked the village's Boujeloud festival, where a boy sewn in goat skins danced with sticks while the musicians play to keep him at bay, to the ancient "Rites of Pan". In 1967 and 1968

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

, lead guitarist with

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, visited the village; at the end of his stay, he recorded the musicians for the LP ''

Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka ''Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka'' is an album by the Moroccan group the Master Musicians of Joujouka, released on Rolling Stones Records and distributed by Atco Records in 1971. It was produced by Brian Jones of the Rolli ...

''. The LP was released on Rolling Stones Records in 1971, some two years after Jones's death. The record was reissued in 1995 by Point Music. The music from this village attracted an influx of westerners, including some who later recorded there, such as

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

and

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

References and notes

* Hamri, Mohamed (1975), '' Tales of Joujouka''. Capra Press. * Palmer, Robert (October 14, 1971). "Jajouka: Up the Mountain". ''Rolling Stone''. * Davis, Stephen (2001). ''Old Gods Almost Dead''. Broadway Books, 135–37, 172, 195–201, 227; 233–34, 248–53, 270, 354, 504–505, 508. * Strauss, Neil (October 12, 1995). "The Pop Life: To Save Jajouka, How About a Mercedes in the Village?". ''The New York Times''. * Davis, Stephen (1993). ''Jajouka Rolling Stone: A Fable of Gods and Heroes.'' Random House,

External links

The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar
Official website
The Master Musicians of Joujouka
Official website
Link to Interview with Bachir Attar on KBoo FM Portland, Oregon, 19 February 2009 on Jajouka music and its history.
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The musical heritage

See also

References and notes

External links