Inspiration & Intention The Sounds The Show The Meaning of Hamsa Lila
lila - A night ritual of Gnawa people of Morocco. The Lila is a rich ceremony that follows a path through the night whose road is marked in the sensory realms of sound (music, song), sight (colors), smells (incense) and movement (dance). This musical ritual enables participants to enter a trance state of healing purification in which they may perform startling and spectacular dances. Lila in Sanskrit is the Cosmic Play. History of the Gnawa and the Lila Ceremony The Gnawa have their roots in communities of Sub-Saharan Africans, mostly from the region of the old Mali empire, who were brought to Morocco as slaves and mercenaries, starting in the 16th century. (Similar communities, with similar practices, exist in Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya as well.) Their background is reflected in their belief system, which draws on both Islam and traditional Sub-Saharan religions. Many of the spirits in the Gnawi pantheon have close analogues in West Africa, and others bear the names of tribes in the Sahel, such as Bambara, Fulani, and so forth. At the same time, members of the group consider themselves to be good Muslims and they behave accordingly, praying, fasting, and carrying out other religious duties. The musicians sing primarily in Arabic, and their songs constantly invoke the name and epithets of Allah; furthermore, at least two of the families include Muslim saints, like Moulay Abdel Qader Jilali and Moulay Brahim, who are well known in Morocco and the rest of the Islamic world; finally, several other sections of the derdeba --even those dedicated to Sudanic spirits--begin with hymns of praise to the Prophet Mohamed. In short, the Gnawa are nothing if not practical and ecumenical. The duality--or multiplicity--of their beliefs is resolved in the character of their patron saint, Bilal, the freed Ethiopian slave who became the Prophet's first muezzin (caller to prayer). A lila (lit., night) generally lasts from sunset until dawn, and in some cases a full derdeba may stretch over several nights. The length depends in part on the mood of the participants, the number of spirits who must be propitiated, the seriousness of each case, and the resources of the sponsors. Some sections may get little more than a perfunctory run-through, but all seven families of spirits must be acknowledged in the music. Drums (tbel, pl. tbola) figure in the lila just as they do in public performances, but their ceremonial role is relatively limited. The barbell-shaped castanets (qaraqeb), on the other hand, are as indispensable for trance-dancing as they are for entertainment music. The principal instrument, however, is a three-stringed lute known by a variety of names (guimbri, sintir, hajhouj). The guimbri has a semi-spiked construction, with a skin-covered body, sliding leather tuning rings, and a sistrum-like sound-modifier at the end of the neck. The morphology and the playing technique of the guimbri have obvious connections to West African instruments like the khalam and kontingo, as well as to the American banjo. Indeed, there are many parallels between the Gnawa and African-American music: the responsorial singing and the interlocking clapping patterns have the spiritual attraction and propulsive drive of good gospel singing, while the pentatonic riffs and deep percussive sound of the guimbri remind some listeners of a bass laying down the harmonic and rhythmic foundation in a jazz or rock group. Until recently, the Gnawa were not well represented on record,
although short excerpts of their performances have appeared on many
touristic anthologies of Moroccan music, often recorded at the Marrakech
Festival of Folklore or captured on the run on Jamaa el Fna. This
situation has improved in the past few years, with the appearance
of nearly 20 CDs featuring the Gnawa--and several more on the way.
These releases include ethnographic recordings (or CDs presenting
themselves as such); collaborations with well-known jazz and popular
musicians such as Randy Weston, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, and
Led Zeppelin; and fusion experiments organized by a variety of Moroccan
artists. In addition, there are many recordings, including complete
performances of the derdeba, in archives and private collections
around the world. In both scholarly and musical terms, however,
none of the commercial recordings released thus far (and few, if
any, of the archival recordings) provide the intellectual interest
or listening pleasure of Gnawa Leila, the five-volume set produced
by Antonio Baldassarre. Volume I, G |
nawa
Songs and Music from Morocco, includes examples of music performed
before the actual ceremony begins, as a warm-up for both musicians
and spectators. This disk is really separate from the rest of the
series, both in terms of the structure of the ritual and, more important,
the circumstances of its recording. These examples were collected
three years before the rest of the "lila," in two separate
places--Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco, and Tamsloht, a
village near Marrakech that is the site of one of the Gnawa's most
important annual pilgrimages. Sala' Nabi'na Volumes II-V were all
recorded in a single evening in Casablanca, although Baldassarre
does not specify whether the occasion was a lila he happened to
attend or a session specially arranged for recording. Volume II
begins with drumming, known as l-A`ada, which is used to announce
the beginning of the ceremony. Here Baldassarre presents an extended
opening section in relatively slow, stately tempo, and then, with
a quick fade, jumps to the rapid final phase of drumming. l-A`ada
leads into the derdeba proper, which begins with the White Suite,
in honor of the family of the Prophet. l-A`ada Volume III covers
the Blue suites, dedicated principally to Sidi Mousa, the Lord of
the Sea (dark blue), and Sidi Sma, the Lord of the Sky (light blue).
To the untutored listener, this volume and the two that follow present
more (or less) of the same-- guimbri, qaraqeb, solo voice, and chorus.
And yet each has its own interest. For example, the last two selections
on this volume (Sidi Sma and Allah Bou Yandi Samaoui) are among
the most compelling on the entire series, with a soaring chorus
beautifully balanced with the guimbri and solo voice. Volume IV
includes both the Red and the Green suites which represent (ostensibly)
different aspects of the Gnawa belief system. After invocations
to the Prophet, the musicians sing for Sidi Hammou, who presides
over the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, and Baba Hammouda, the butcher
who actually performs the slaughter. (Hammouda's signature song,
Band 5, was adapted in the early seventies by the folk-pop group,
Nass el-Ghiwane.) Because of the connections to Muslim sacrifice,
Baldassarre associates this group with both the Middle East and
with surgical healing; some Gnawa in Marrakech, on the other hand,
regarded the Red spirits as rather wild and fearsome. The Green
Suite, in contrast, is dedicated to the Shorfa (sing., Sherif),
the noble family of the Prophet Mohammed. Although the various saints
and spirits can be clearly distinguished by their associated melodies
and texts, the music for the different families is quite similar
in its general stylistic features. Finally, Volume V moves further
to the spirit side of the Gnawa, with the Black and Yellow Suites.
The Black Suite honors the ancestral spirits of the forest, both
male and female. The Yellow Suite--which might actually be termed
polychrome, since it includes lavender, pink and other pastel colors--is
devoted entirely to female spirits, whose personalities range from
coquettish to terrifying. The set concludes with a song in praise
of Aisha Qandisha, a goat-footed spirit who is revered, and feared,
all over Morocco. Indeed, this last section provides final proof
that the Gnawa should not be called a "confraternity"
or "brotherhood," as many scholars, including Baldassarre,
persist in identifying them. While it is true that women rarely,
if ever, play instruments in Gnawa ceremonies, a large percentage
(perhaps even a majority) of the devotees are women, female spirits
figure prominently in the pantheon, and, most important, many of
the most respected officiants (mqaddem or mqaddema) are women.