“This is an unforgettable first quarter of a century which has seen the biggest names in jazz and world music appear on the stages of the Festival, alongside the Maâlems Gnaoua. This year is no exception to the rule. With headliners never before seen in Morocco, the Festival promises memorable nights where feverish sounds from the four corners of the world will sweep over the City of the Trade Winds,” add the organizers in a press release.
Buika (Spain), Saint Levant (Palestine), The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion (United States) and Bokanté (United States, Guadeloupe among others, are some of the headliners who will light up this 25th edition, reports the same source.
Flamenco, blues, jazz, oriental music, rap, gypsy rumba, chaâbi, etc. The Festival asserts, more than ever, its eclectic character which has established it as an unmissable event in the music world’s agenda.
The emotion that flows from Buika’s raspy and powerful voice makes her one of the most distinctive and celebrated Spanish artists in the world. An incredibly expressive voice, which blends the soul of flamenco with the depth of jazz, transcends linguistic barriers and overcomes musical boundaries.
A rising star on the international music scene, the Palestinian rapper with plural origins and a multi-generational audience, Saint Levant brilliantly mixes Arabic, English and French in his tracks. Very politically engaged, his pieces which fuse hip hop and oriental RnB are a hit on platforms and attract millions of views on social networks.
By programming Randy Brecker and his group (The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion), the Festival welcomes one of the biggest names in jazz of the last 50 years, who, with his late brother Michael Brecker, conquered stages around the world and had a lasting influence on generations of musicians.
A supergroup of instrumentalists from diverse backgrounds, Bokanté bears the signature of Michael League, one of the great jazz bassists of his generation and founder of Snarky Puppy. The group has a major asset: its singer Malika Tirolien who perfectly masters the vocal demands of jazz and speaks, in Creole, French and English, texts that resonate with the struggles facing the world today. .
On the occasion of this 25th edition, the Gnaoua and World Music Festival will present 53 concerts and more than 400 artists in total, the organizers would like to specify.
Like every year, perfectly balanced between Maâlems Gnaoua and musicians from around the world, the artistic selection of this 25th edition offers a carefully thought-out program, which offers a mixture of very varied musical styles.
Designed to please all audiences, the programming is intended to be avant-garde, daring, harmonious and inclusive, and above all an invitation to live a unique experience, that only the Gnaoua and World Music Festival can imagine, concludes the press release.