Master Musicians of Joujouka
Morocco's legendary trance music
Brian Jones festival a huge success – First report
The excitement had died down in Joujouka this morning as the Master Musicians relaxed after a sleepless week. The last guests, two Land Rovers from the film crew got safely placed on their articulated truck by Mark at Ksar El Kebir yesterday afternoon.
On last Saturday a wedding took place in Joujouka and the Master played until dawn. Sunday saw the arrival of the first journalist, as well as sound engineer Dave Slevin, a film crew, plus director Daragh McCarthy and the first guests.
On Monday the guest of honour, Anita Pallenberg, arrived, accompanied by John Dunbar and James Birch. They were accommodated by Hamed El Attar in the house where Brian Jones stayed when he was in Joujouka on 29th July 1968.
Mallim Ali Attar joined the Masters each morning. At 94 he is the oldest musician in the village; he recalled Brian Gysin and Brian Jones to the delight of all.
On Tuesday morning the sheep were killed for the feasts at the Mosque and the guesthouse. At 9am Kalil the festival driver began ferrying guests from Ksar El Kebir. The first performance of the day took place in a large tent at the musicians’ new guest house.
After lunch everyone visited the sanctuary of Sidi Ahmed Schiech and made donations at his tomb.
Relatives of the Mujdoubie brothers, Mallim Fudal, and all the old Masters of the Brian Jones period attended for the feasts and the festival.
After midnight everyone made their way to the ancient stage, a stone in the centre of the village, where the Masters played for hours non-stop. The Aishas and Boujeloud joined them and danced the night away.
©Joep Bremmers 2008
More photos in the Photos section and on our MySpace Festival blog
Thanks to everyone who came, to everyone who helped especially Jaouad Hilali, Yvonne-Marie Rogez, the Association for Co Operation and Development Sidi Ahmed Sherk de Zahjouka, and the Caid at Tatoft.
A special thanks to all the people of Joujouka who made the festival possible.
Brian Jones 40th Anniversary Festival Joujouka, Morocco, 29th July 2008
Booking Now Sold out
A once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience a day and night in Joujouka as guests of the Master Musicians of Joujouka and their families in their mountain village on 29th July 2008, the 40th Anniversary to the day of, the Rolling Stones founder, Brian Jones’s famous visit to the village. Read on
The History
On 29th July 1968 following in the footsteps of William Burroughs, Robert Palmer and Paul Bowles, Brian Jones came to Joujouka with Brion Gysin, Mohamed Hamri and engineer George Chkiantz to record an album with the Master Musicians of Joujouka.
The resulting LP was the first release on Rolling Stones Records in 1971 “Brian Jones presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka”.
Mick Jagger:
I remember Brian playing tapes. We had this engineer we were working with, George Chkiantz, and George was one of the first people to be heavily into phasing, which was like the scratching of the middle ’60s. So Brian took all of the Joujouka tapes and put them through phasing, which was really quite before its time.
The following year Timothy Leary visited Joujouka and in 1973 Ornette Coleman recorded here. In 2006, Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan stayed in the village with The Master Musicians. The musicians are renowned for their Sufi trance music and the Boujeloud rite (Rites of Pan).
The Festival
To mark the 40th anniversary of this historic recording, the Master Musicians of Joujouka are staging a celebratory festival on 29th July 2008. The musicians will perform the Sufi healing music of Joujouka. There will be a a visit to the 8th century sanctuary of Joujouka’s patron saint Sidi Ahmed Schiech. It will also be possible to visit the cave of Boujeloud, Magara, which is a short trek outside the village.
The evening and night will be devoted to the healing trance music of Joujouka. After dinner, the night will be filled with a full performance of the Boujeloud Rite, which is likened to the ancient Rites of Pan.
Joujouka is a farming community with strong Sufi traditions, located in the Ahl Srif Mountains some 80 km south of Chefchaouen and 20km from Ksar El Kebir. It is a halal village; therefore, both the presence and consumption of alcohol is strictly forbidden.
Food and board
Accommodation will be provided in traditional Joujouka houses with the musicians’ families. This is a unique opportunity to experience a festival in the village and Joujouka life.
Full board will be provided: lunch on arrival on the 29th, a celebratory meal in the evening including charcoal roasted sheep and a wide variety of mountain dishes including vegetarian specialities, and breakfast will be provided on the morning of the 30th. All the dishes will be prepared by the villagers and will be traditional Moroccan fare for a celebratory feast.
The people of Joujouka are renowned for their hospitality, their music and their cooking.
Places are limited
This once-in-a-lifetime experience is available to a strictly limited 50 places. This is due to accommodation limitations in the village, which is 20km from the nearest urban centre.
Travel arrangements
Ticket holders must make their own way to Ksar El Kebir which is 90 km south of Tangier. Ticket holders will be transported from Ksar El Kebir’s main train station (“Mouley Mehdi”) at a designated time on the morning of 29th to the Ahl Srif mountains and Joujouka 20km and 30 mins away. Return transport to Ksar El Kebir will be provided on 30th to meet connecting trains, buses and grand taxis. Ksar El Kebir is served by the main ONCF train services from Tangier, Marrakesh, Fez and Oujda. It is also serviced by buses and Grand Taxis.
The village is also accessible by road.
NB: It may also appear as Jajouka or Zahjouka on maps. Car drivers will be provided with detailed instructions and a map.
Language
The people of Joujouka speak Moroccan Mountain Arabic. The younger people learn French in school.
There will be people on hand who speak French/English and Arabic!
Visitors will enjoy the full hospitality of The Master Musicians and people of Joujouka.
The price for this unique experience is €250 per person.
Information available from joujouka@gmail.com
Update: Some people have requested to pay by credit transfer this is also acceptable contact Frank Rynne email: joujouka@gmail.com for details or Phone 00353 87 6254901
Sold out
Master Musicians of Joujouka, Brion Gysin , William S. Burrroughs Exihibion at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
The Master Musicians of Joujouka album “Joujouka Black Eyes” is the soundtrack for the Brion Gysin Dreamachine currently on show at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. The Dreamachine is an art object that is viewed with the eyes closed. Its alpha waves produce a trance-like /hallucinogenic experience. Brion Gysin was the first Westerner to focus attention on the significance of our Sufi music. We are proud to be associated with this exhibition.
The exhibition runs from 9 April to 29 June 2008.
Master Musicians of Joujouka
We are the Master Musicians of Joujouka from the Ahl Srif Mountains, in Morocco.
Ahmed Attar, current leader of the Master Musicians, dances as a boy in 1968
Best Wishes and Baraka
Ahmed El Attar
Master Musicians of Joujouka
17/09/2007
Interview with Joujouka producer, Frank Rynne, at Brink.com
Brink.com have published the most extensive interview to date with Frank Rynne on his 16 years visiting and working with Master Musicians of Joujouka. Click here to read article
Who are the Master Musicians of Joujouka?
The Master Musicians of Joujouka are legendary Sufi trance masters from North Morocco. They have been associated with Beat Generation writers Paul Bowles and William Burroughs and the painters Mohammed Hamri and Brion Gysin. Their first album was produced in 1968 by Rolling Stones founder and lead guitarist Brian Jones and is commonly regarded as the first “World Music” album.
The Master Musicians have collaborated, performed and recorded with artists as diverse as Ornette Coleman, Marianne Faithfull, Scanner, Lee Renaldo and Bill Laswell. The musicians prefer to live and play near the sanctuary of their saint, Sidi Achmed Shiech, and rarely perform outside Morocco.
The current line-up of the Musicians is as follows: Mohamed El Attar, Mustapha El Attar, Ahmed El Attar, Abdeslam Boukhzar, Abdeslam Errtoubi, Muiner Mejdoubi, Radi El Khalil, Abdullah Ziyat, Mohamed Mokhchan and Ahmed El Bouhsini.
"Destroy All Rational Thought" 2007 DVD release
Available now at our store
Destroy All Rational Thought
Featuring The Master Musicians of Joujouka live in concert at The Here to Go Show in 1992.
The Here to Go Show celebrated the lives and work of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin.
The Master Musicians of Joujouka travelled to Dublin, Ireland to participate.
The DVD features William Burroughs in a rare interview about Brion Gysin.
Brion Gysin painting, Hamri the Painter of Morocco, who first connected his village’s musicians – Master Musicians of Joujouka – with the Western avant garde.
Rare footage by Antony Balch of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin in New York, Paris and Tangier from the 1950s and early 1960s.
Writers Ira Cohen, Joe Ambrose, Terry Wilson, Peter Lamborn Wilson/Hakim Bey.
Music from Bill Laswell’s Material, The Master Musicians of Joujouka, Thin Lizzy’s Brian Downey, and The Baby Snakes.
New features on this DVD.
Interview with directors, Frank Rynne and Joe Ambrose, who discuss Master Musicians of Joujouka, Hamri, Burroughs, Gysin and the Here to Go Show.
Slideshows of artwork and literary tributes to Burroughs and Gysin.
Extra music: William Burroughs don’t Play Guitar by Islamic Diggers.
Endorsing the film with reference to The Master Musicians of Joujouka performances as featured in Destroy all Rational Thought, William S. Burroughs wrote in 1994:
Feb 28, 1994
I have seen the Dublin videos and they look very impressive. I am sure the actual performance must have been a real knock-out. We need more ‘diabolic music’ everywhere.
Not destroy all rational thought but put in proportion the 1/10 of the iceberg that appears above the water.
All best
William S. Burroughs
Available now at our store
"Boujeloud" reviewed in The Wire
from The Wire (review not available online)
Master Musicians of Joujouka Boujeloud (Sub Rosa. CD)
Within the recording’s documentary aesthetic, the pieces played on liras (small bamboo flutes) struggle to assert themselves against the relentless drubbing of skin drums. Those played on the raita though have that unmistakable tight reedy buzz, so nagging and impossible to ignore, and as unearthly and modern as the average synth pre-set. The parts are seemingly simple and repetitive, but the precise inflections of each draw you in, varying more the harder you listen, and Boujeloud is another reminder of why Joujouka has fascinated those interested in drone, rock and trance. SAM DAVIES
New CD: "Boujeloud" available now from our store
Recordings of the ritual music of Boujeloud. The music of Pan.
The music of Joujouka has fascinated many outsiders since 1950 when Mohamed Hamri, an artist from the village, first brought Beat painter Brion Gysin to his home.
Gysin later wrote: “My own music turned out to be the hill tribe Ahl Serif (sic) whom I met through the painter Hamri. [...] The secret of his mother’s tribe guarded even from themselves was that they were still performing the Rites of Pan under the ragged cloak of Islam.”
The ritual and the beast referred to by Gysin as Pan is called Boujeloud in Joujouka.
The Joujouka myth of Boujeloud, heralding the arrival of music in the village, is paralleled in the Greek myth of Pan. In the Joujouka legend, Boujeloud, the half-man half-goat, gave a flute to a shepherd in return for the promise of a wife. In Greek mythology, Pan, also a half-man half-goat figure, taught the shepherd Daphnis how to play the flute.
The surprise for visitors to Joujouka was and is the fact that the villagers still give annual expression to their origin myth through the Boujeloud ritual, which keeps alive the ancient Rites of Pan. This festival is traditionally staged in Joujouka for a week leading up to the first full moon following the Islamic feast day of Aid El Kebir.
You can buy an advance copy of the CD at our Store
About this site
This site represents the Master Musicians of Joujouka, the musicians who still live in the village and are keeping the tradition alive.