{"product_id":"asmaa-hamzaoui_lbnat_2024","title":"L'Bnat","description":"Asmaa Hamzaoui is the first ambassador of gnawa music. With her group Bnat Timbouktou, she offers a contagious brand of desert evangelical blues. - - Although women are essential to gnawa rituals, there have not been many female gnawa musicians. Asmâa Hamzaoui and the group Bnat Timboktou are part of a new wave that is changing this trend. Asmâa 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 a young age and, very early on, joined her father's group on the qraqeb and in the choir, before he encouraged her to form her own group. This is how Bnat Timboktou was born, the group that will release \"L 'bnat\" at the end of spring, the follow-up to her critically acclaimed first album \"Oulad Ighaba,\" on the Swedish label ajabu! Records. \"For us, gnawa is above all other types of music. - - It is our childhood. It is a spiritual, healing music that makes you feel rooted.\" When this group of women performs, the guembri - a plucked string lute played in a percussive style - and Asmaa Hamzaoui's expressive voice are at the center of attention, 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 is handmade, made of wood and goat skin. That is what makes it alive, in a way.\" In 2017, Asmaa and the ajabu! label forged a deeper connection and began recording the critically acclaimed first 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\" will be released worldwide and will focus on traditions and feminine spirits within gnawa culture. - - Although traditionalist in many ways, Hamzaoui is also a pioneer, bringing gnawa music to venues such as the 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 is a transformation through preservation.","brand":"Asmâa Hamzaoui","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58542257209688,"sku":null,"price":23648279.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/4251896110373.jpg?v=1790116582","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en-us\/products\/asmaa-hamzaoui_lbnat_2024","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}