{"product_id":"asmaa-hamzaoui_lbnat-vinyl_2024_lad","title":"L'BNAT (vinyl)","description":"Asmaa Hamzaoui is the leading female ambassador for Gnawa music. With her band Bnat Timbouktou, she delivers a contagious brand of desert evangelical blues. Although women are essential to Gnawa rituals, there haven’t been many female Gnawa musicians. Asmaa Hamzaoui and the band Bnat Timboktou are part of a new wave changing this trend. Asmaa Hamzaoui was born into a Casablanca family that lived and breathed Gnawa – her father is a master musician, her mother a dancer. She learned the guembri from childhood, and early on, she joined her father’s band on qraqeb and choir, before he encouraged her to form her own band. This was the birth of Bnat Timboktou, the band that in late spring will release “L’bnat”, the follow-up to her critically acclaimed debut album “Oulad Ighaba” on the Swedish label ajabu! Records. \"For us, Gnawa sits above all other types of music. — It’s our childhood. It’s spiritual, healing music that makes you feel rooted.” When this all-female group performs, the guembri – a plucked string lute played in a percussive style – and Asmaa Hamzaoui’s expressive voice take center stage, while the soundscape is filled with the rhythmic percussion of the qraqeb, so characteristic of Gnawa music. “When I play the guembri, I am truly in my element. It’s handmade, made from wood and goat skin. That’s what makes it alive, in a way.” In 2017, Asmaa and the label ajabu! forged a deeper connection and started recording the critically acclaimed debut album \"Oulad Lghaba\" in Casablanca and Stockholm. The album was very well-received and recognized worldwide and was nominated for a Songlines Music Award. The new album \"L'bnat\" is released worldwide and will focus on female traditions and spirits within Gnawa culture. While a traditionalist in many ways, Hamzaoui is also a pioneer, bringing Gnawa music to venues such as Roskilde Festival, BAM in Barcelona, Kaustinen in Finland, and, in the summer of 2024, to Womad. She wants to keep Gnawa alive – in this case, it’s transformation through preservation.","brand":"Asmâa Hamzaoui","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55310224949592,"sku":null,"price":23987916.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/4251896110380_eea8245a-47e6-492f-94f1-443824c09782.jpg?v=1760318948","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en-us\/products\/asmaa-hamzaoui_lbnat-vinyl_2024_lad","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}