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The History, Story and Music of the Master Musicians from Jajouka, Morocco
Jajouka is a small ancient village perched above
a long valley in the blue Djebala foothills of the Rif mountains several kilometers from Ksar el Kebir, in
northern Morocco. Once upon a time—a time before history —when
the past was remembered in words and music recited in the fire-lit dark—a
group of migrants, perhaps from the Phoenician settlement of Lixus on
the Atlantic coast, made their home on the Mountain of Owls in the gold-green
foothills of the Moroccan Rif. There, above the winding valley of the
Loukous, a music was born in the magic and mystery of the darkness which
for years beyond counting has survived, absorbing all influences that
have come along, from Roman Gods and Islamic Saints, to the development
of a modern Moroccan kingdom.
The inhabitants of this small village are from the Ahl
Sherif (meaning "the saintly") tribe. The Attar clan of Jajouka is the founding
family of Jajouka's Master Musicians and keepers of one of the world's oldest and most unique
surviving musical traditions. The music and secrets of Jajouka have been
passed down through generations from father to son, by some accounts for
as long as 1,300 years. The musicians of Jajouka are taught from early
childhood a complex music which is unique to Jajouka, until they finally
become malims or masters. They possess baraka, or the blessing of Allah,
which gives them the power to heal, and the endurance required to play
some of the most intense and complex trance-like music around. The Master Musicians
of Jajouka are all descendants of one family, the Attars. Attar is a
Sufi watchword and a deeply mystical name meaning "perfume maker".
Two of the great influences on the Beat Generation, Brion Gysin, the painter and inventor and Paul Bowles, the writer and composer who was not a "Beat" himself, first heard the wild music of Jajouka at a moussem or festival near Sidi Kacem, located on the Atlantic Ocean several miles from Tangier, Morocco, in July 1950. Gysin was spellbound and he determined to hear this Sufi trance-like music for the rest of his life. Tangier,
Morocco was then an International Zone, where anything could and did happen. In this adventurous climate, in 1954 the painter and writer
Brion Gysin co-founded and ran a popular restaurant named the 1001 Nights in Tangier, located in a wing of the Menehbi palace on the Marshan. Gysin hired the Master Musicians of Jajouka, with the assistance of his close friend the painter Mohamed Hamri, who was also the cook. The Master Musicians travelled to Tangier on a rotating basis to perform, dance and serve to a largely international clientele. Those were the days of
Beat writer William S. Burroughs' "Interzone", described in his book The Naked Lunch. The expatriate writer and composer Paul Bowles first formally introduced Brion Gysin to William Burroughs in
1957, and Burroughs later visited the tiny village.
In 1968 Brion Gysin introduced his close friend Brian Jones, lead guitarist and the founder of of The Rolling Stones, to the music of the Master Musicians of Jajouka. He recorded a number of hours of their music in the village. Tragically, Brian Jones drowned in 1969, a month after returning from Morocco, and
the album he recorded, Brian Jones Presents The Pipes of Pan at Joujouka,
was released two years later in 1971. (The Rolling Stones reissued this album in 1995 with the commonly-accepted spelling of the village today—Jajouka. The Rolling
Stones still own the copyright on the Pipes of Pan.) The original LP album was very influential and led to scores of people visiting the village in the following years, including many Hippies. The now-legendary jazz saxophonist and musician Ornette Coleman, recorded the track "Midnight Sunrise" in Jajouka for his 1973 album Dancing In Your Head. The Master Musicians of Jajouka are often described as the first "World
Music" group. They recreated music from their most important religious holiday, the Aïd el-Kebir, and Brian Jones eagerly recorded seven hours of their captivating, complicated sounds. It
was this at this annual festival which led the writer and inventor Brion Gysin, and later William Burroughs, to believe that there was a connection
between the ancient rites of Pan, the Roman fertility festival
of Lupercalia, and the local tradition in Jajouka of a young boy dressing
as Boujeloud (the goat god, father of skins), dancing madly, whipping
the villagers into a frenzy and ensuring their health for
the coming year. The Master Musicians of Jajouka play a number of traditional instruments,
including the ghaita (the Arabic version of the oboe), the lira
(a bamboo flute), and the gimbri (a three stringed lute), along
with double-headed Moroccan drums. This music is comprised of several fairly
simple parts, which are then intricately woven together in a way foreign
to most Western ears, so that the resolution of individual phrases and
sections can be difficult for outsiders to discern. The music can be extended
indefinitely, and many performances last for hours at a time, with some
musicians taking breaks and others stepping in to take their place. The
music of Jajouka has always been highly respected and sought after by
those living in the region.
It is possible to classify the music into four differing
styles as detailed below.
1. Boujeloudia—The Pipes of Pan. In the words of Paul Bowles—"When the new moon,
before setting, announces that the month-long fast of Ramadan is at an
end, the villagers of Jajouka know that Bou Jeloud will be upon them.
That night, Boujeloud (the one wearing skins) is not only covered in
goatskin but also has the branches of trees and bushes strapped to him.
A high bonfire is built at the center of the village square. The only
light will come from its flames. Once the raitas begin to play, there
is never even a split second of silence for the rest of the night. There
is no singing, only the strident shrilling of the twenty or so oboes supported
by the inexorable rapid drumming. One does not see Boujeloud arriving.
He is suddenly there between the fire and the ring of spectators, a shadowy
figure slapping his bare feet on the earth. In his hand the dancer wields
a branch, and with it he occasionally strikes a female spectator. The
screams caused by his gesture are covered by the music. Indeed, the music
has now intensified its sound by sending half the players to the highest
register where grace notes and appoggiatura around the melody become a
shrieking hysteria. What began as a concert has become a visible spectacle,
a ritual. This metamorphosis having occurred, the element of time is no
longer present. Eventually, when the watcher's tension lessens, Boujeloud
disappears in the same way he came into the ring. The spectacle has returned
to being a concert, the performers have entered into the notes they are
playing, and it is now that they produce the most impassioned and exciting
moments of the night."—Paul Bowles.
The rites of Pan were certainly performed in Jajouka
and elsewhere in pre-Islamic times. Its significance here is that this
pre-Islamic survival is unique in the glimpse it provides of a tradition
and a spirituality that was common to us all before the advent of organized
religions.
2. Chamsa ou Chamsin (Fifty-Five). The Master
Musicians of Jajouka have in their possession sealed decrees which gave
them title to play for the reigning Sultan of Morocco. This music is completely
different from the impassioned Boujeloudia and is played on small bamboo
flutes, gimbri, violin and drums. They rode at the head of the army and
heralded the Sultan's arrival in a new city. This music was also responsible
for waking the Sultan, playing him to sleep at night and in general for
creating the atmosphere in which the Sultan lived and consequently ruled
his subjects. These decrees addressed the musicians with extraordinary
respect and set them free from all labor, allowing them to collect a tithe
on all the crops grown around Jajouka. This vital task was lost at the
beginning of the last century with the partition of Morocco when Jajouka
found itself on the wrong side of the frontier and cut off from their
monarch.
3. Chadra. Even when the Jajouka musicians are touring a small
cadre always remains in the village where each Friday morning they play
at the sanctuary of Sidi Ahmed Sheikh, the local saint who is credited with
bringing Islam to the valley of the Loukous. It is believed that this holy
man plowed his field with a team of Berber lions, a feat which inspired
the Jajouka insignia and logo, a lion created through the calligraphic
weaving of sacred text from the Qur'an (القرآن). It is usually forbidden in the
Islamic world to play music on Fridays, and this sole manifestation of
music on the day of prayer is indicative of the importance attached to
this ritual. Sidi Ahmed Sheikh was also a healer, and he taught the musicians a form
of music which heals afflictions of the mind and spirit. Passed down from
father to son for more than eight centuries, this form of therapy still
draws afflicted people from the surrounding region and often further afield
in the hope of a cure.
4. The Music of the Djebala. The everyday folk music
of the Rif, played on gimbri, lira, violin and drums. is a gentler, quieter style of ethereal beauty.
There is a legend surrounding Boujeloud: if he ever ceased to play his pipes, then the world as we know it would come to an end.
The Master Musicians are all descendants of
one family, the Attars. Attar is a Sufi watchword and a deeply mystical
name meaning perfume maker Long before the current Alaouite dynasty
of the Moroccan sultans, the Master Musicians traveled with the sultans as
their Royal Musicians. They rode at the head of the army and heralded
the sultan's arrival in a new city. They had very old papers from the
king which spelled out their duties and rights at the palace: to play
the king to bed at night; to play for him in the morning; and to play
at the mosque when he went to pray. These papers were renewed when the Alaoui family, the ancestors of the current Moroccan king, came to power. The
papers addressed the Musicians Musicians with extraordinary respect and set them
free from all labor, allowing them to collect a tithe on all the crops
grown around the village.
The Master Musicians were the Royal Court musicians for seven kings of Morocco prior to Morocco's occupation by France and Spain, and subsequent Independence in 1956. People still travel to Jajouka on pilgrimage
to visit the shrine of the holy man Sidi Ahmed Sheikh, who brought Islam
to the valley centuries ago. It is said that this holy man plowed his
field with a team of Berber lions, a feat which inspired the special Jajouka
insignia―a lion created through the calligraphic weaving of sacred text
from the Qur'an. Sidi Ahmed Sheikh also had the power to heal mental illnesses,
and he blessed the music of Jajouka with this same healing power (baraka). To
this day, the Master Musicians, along with the holy man of the village,
heal mental illnesses of the people sent from around Morocco. The guardian of the tomb is a member of the Master Musicians led by Bachir Attar, and is off-limits to non-Moslems and curiosity-seekers. Any overnight visitors to the village of Jajouka are required to register their presence with the local caid.
In 1980 the Master Musicians of Jajouka began a series of European tours, but lost momentum in 1982 with the death of their chief and group leader, Hadj Abdessalam Attar. One of his younger sons, Bachir Attar, has taken over as the legitimate hereditary leader of the Master Musicians, and he works hard to preserve Jajouka’s traditions, secrets and legacy. As a kind of ambassador of
Jajouka music, Bachir Attar journeys from his mountain village home to Paris, London, New York and elsewhere, constantly working to get the music of Jajouka out to the world, and
he composes new songs. Over the years, Bachir Attar has collaborated with other musicians, including
Deborah Harry (Blondie), saxophonist and jazz legend Ornette Coleman, Talvin Singh, Elliott Sharp, Bill Laswell, Peter Gabriel, Maceo Parker, and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, the Sex Pistols and Aerosmith, and other famous musical artists, performers and groups. In 1989, Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Jajouka also collaborated and recorded in Tangier's kasbah with Mick Jagger, Ron Wood and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones on the song "Continental Drift" for the Stone's album Steel Wheels―an event well documented by Paul Bowles in his published diary Days: A Tangier Journal. Mick Jagger has described the Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar as "one of the most musically inspiring groups still left on the planet."
Describing The Master Musicians of Jajouka, the Beat generation writer William S. Burroughs, who based the Interzone in his book The Naked Lunch on Tangier, wrote: "Listen to the music, the primordial sounds. Listen with your whole body, let the music penetrate you and move you, and you will connect with the oldest music on earth." William S. Burroughs wrote to Cherie Nutting, Jajouka's manager, in a signed letter dated November 30, 1994: “I am aware of all your good work with Bachir Attar, who is, without any doubt, the sole rightful inheritor of the mantle of Leader of the Master Musicians of Jajouka, and his band of musicians, who are the only rightful ‘Master Musicians.’” Thus,
any claimed support by Burroughs of a "Joujouka" group is not correct and Burroughs was firmly in the camp of The Master Musicians of Jajouka, with
Bachir Attar as the "sole rightful inheritor of the mantle of Leader." According to Burroughs, Jajouka with Bachir Attar are the "only rightful
'Master Musicians.'" Under Bachir Attar's able leadership, the Master Musicians preserve and utilize their ancient musical traditions and
are regularly asked to perform concerts of their music of Morocco throughout the world. The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar is the only group of musicians from Jajouka specifically
honored and officially recognized by the government of the Kingdom of Morocco in a special proclamation. Bachir Attar lives in
Jajouka, Morocco, near Ksar-el-Kebir.
The Master Musicians made their first American tour in 1995, and they have had numerous successful tours in many Scandinavian and European countries, and in Canada and Hong Kong. The
Master Musicians of Jajouka have just returned to Morocco after a successful and well-attended performance in Montreal, Canada on November 10, 2007. This concert was part of an annual event organized by Festival du
Monde Arabe de Montréal (FMA).
The
Master Musicians of Jajouka and Bachir Attar have been featured on international
television and radio programs including CNN, BBC, WGBH in
Boston and PRI (Public Radio International). In Morocco, Bachir
Attar and/or the Master Musicians of Jajouka have also appeared at various
times on RTM and 2M television, and they have also
been heard on Radio Tanger and Medi1 radio stations.
A new documentary film, The Hand of Fatima, is scheduled to be released on DVD in late 2008. This film is produced by Augusta Palmer, daughter of Robert Palmer―the famous first full-time rock 'n' roll writer and chief pop music critic for the New York Times for over a decade in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also a long-time contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine. Palmer's favorite band was The Master Musicians of Jajouka. Augusta Palmer's documentary about his 1971 trip to the village includes rare archival images and footage, animation, interviews and of course the music of the Master Musicians, past and present. (You will thoroughly enjoy watching The Hand of Fatima.) Stay tuned. Two other films about the Master Musicians of Jajouka are currently in the works, and several 2008 performances are already in the works. See the News and On Tour pages of this site for details of these upcoming performances by The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar when they are announced in the near future.
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Quotes about The Master Musicians of Jajouka, led by Bachir Attar
"One of the most musically inspiring groups still left on the planet."
Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones
"The original Rock & Roll band, that leaves you wanting more."
Slash, Guns & Roses
"The primordial sounds of a 4000 year old rock 'n' roll band." "...Bachir
Attar... is, without any doubt, the sole rightful inheritor of the mantle of Leader of the Master Musicians of Jajouka, and his band of musicians, who are the only rightful ‘Master Musicians.’”
William S. Burroughs, Beat Generation writer
"The music is human music, music that preserves life." Ornette Coleman, jazz legend and winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Music
"This exuberant music will gradually reveal a timeless savvy." Milo Miles, The New York Times
"The music is an evocation of sustained ecstasy. It is chaotic, cacophonous, sometimes at war with itself. And it is utterly
intoxicating." John Leland, Newsweek magazine
"I didn't go to Jajouka to find meaning. I went to Jajouka to have a musical experience, which I had."
Paul Bowles, expatriate author and
composer
"If I could live 1,000 lives, each one would be as Jajouka." Rob
Buck, The 10,000 Maniacs
"The ancient music of Jajouka is as profound and spiraling as DNA. This is
the raw genetic material of all sacred music." Genesis P. Orridge, Psychic TV
"The gods will surely dig these grooves, as well as the promise implicit in Bachir Attar's strong loving wail."
David Fricke, Rolling
Stone magazine
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Band Members―The Master Musicians of Jajouka (Morocco):
Bachir Attar, Mohamed El Attar, ’Hajj’ Mohamed El Attar, Mostapha Attar, Mohktar Jaghdal, Abdellah Attar, Abdelzarak El Attar, Mohamed El Attar (Young Berdouz), Ahmed El Ballouti, Bouker Talha, Abdullah Bokhzar, Mohamed el Hamadi, Amin El Attar, Hamido El Attar, Abdellah Sandoubi el Attar, and Achmed El Hamidi.
Prior to 1982, the Master Musicians of Jajouka were led by Hadj Abdesalam Attar, and the group had as many as 55 musicians. The above and following musicians all played with Hadj Abdesalam Attar until his death in 1982, and then later continued with the group as led by his son Bachir Attar. A few, such as Berdouz, rejoined Bachir a bit later than the others, in the early 1990s. The following Master Master Musicians have passed away in the last 15 years: Ali El Attar, Taher Bokhzar), Mohamed El Attar (Berdouz), Mohamed Bacari, Ali Nachat, Mfdal, Achmed El Hamidi, Ali Majdoubi , Larbi Hilali, Larbi Hlalli Attar. There are more to list who played only with Bachir’s father and died before 1982.
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