![]() ![]() Nowadays the man inside the costume is Mohamed Hatmi, who runs a local café in the village.īut at night, during the annual festivals, he dances like a maniac and whips people with olive branches. ![]() Mohamed Hatmi performs as the ancient deity Boujeloud ![]() The blood, sweat and salt was said to inspire mystical visions. Then a small boy would be sewn up inside a goatskin, smeared with salt. In the old days a goat was slaughtered and skinned. It is believed that Boujeloud brings the gift of fertility to Joujouka and he performs as the dance master, accompanying the musicians as they pound their drums and blow their pipes. He is half-man, half-goat and probably related to the Greek god Pan. This is where the ancient deity Boujeloud is said to live. Half-way up a hill above the village is a cave. The sounds of Joujouka have their roots in Sufism but probably pre-date Islam. It is not difficult if it is just your life." "When I was older I would be with the Master Musicians every day and the leader of the drummers, who was called Berdouz, helped me and other boys learn the music. I have been playing music since I was a small boy of about nine," he says. "When I was young I danced and started to play the drum. In fact, says El Attar, it takes a lifetime to master. It takes years to learn the music properly. The audiences and the support we get from them with their dancing and their happiness is a gift to us." It can also help me to play it on my own, whenever I need to calm myself. "I love seeing people moved by the music. "When you play the ghaita, you become part of a great sound," says another member of the troupe, Abdeslam Rrtoubi. I feel like a bird, that is flying away," he tells the BBC. If I ever feel angry or sad, I just listen to the music and suddenly I feel happy again. ![]() "That's why I want to play this music forever. "When I play the music I feel very happy - like a bird," says Ahmed El Attar, sometimes referred to as the leader of the band. The pipes are called ghaitas and there are two drums: the zowak and farad. The Master Musicians create their other worldly sound with traditional Moroccan instruments. The size of the band has shrunk over the years Jones stayed for a night and a day but the music festival lasted for several days. He remembers the rock-and-roll legend arriving all those years ago: "When Brian Jones came to the village, my little brother Moustapha came to me and said: 'Somebody come with big hair.' I ran and ran to see my father and I saw the man with big golden hair. "I just want to hear that music for the rest of my life," said Gysin, who added that he never let the sun go down without listening to the musicians.īrian Jones, who founded the Rolling Stones, recorded the Master Musicians in 1968.Īt that time, Bachir Attar was a shepherd boy from the village. "I was so blown away by what I found there, that I tore up my return ticket and stayed in the village for a couple of years."īy then the musicians had already been discovered by American counter-culturalists Paul Bowles and William Burroughs, as well as British-Canadian artist Bryon Gysin. Stein first stumbled upon the Master Musicians of Joujouka in 1971. "It's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but nevertheless it's been passed down from father to son from time immemorial," he tells the BBC. ![]()
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