The Master Musicians of Joujouka

The Master Musicians of Joujouka are a collective of Jbala Sufi trance musicians, serving as a modern representation of a centuries-old music tradition.[1] The collective was first documented by Western journalists in the early 1950s,[2] and was brought to widespread international attention by Brian Jones in 1969.[1] They have collaborated with many Western rock and jazz musicians.[3]

This article is about the musical group The Master Musicians of Joujouka. For the related group with a similar name, see The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar.

The Master Musicians of Joujouka
OriginJajouka, Morocco
GenresFolk music, World,
Sufi music of Morocco
Years activeearly 1950s–present
LabelsRolling Stones Records, Adelphi, Sub Rosa, Ergot
MembersSee: Members
WebsiteMaster Musicians of Joujouka official site

The collective includes more than 50 musicians from the village of Jajouka (sometimes spelled as Joujouka or Zahjouka), in the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco. All members are the sons of previous members, and adopt the surname Attar ("perfume maker").[1] In the 1990s, the collective split into two factions, with the other currently known as The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar.[3]

History

The Master Musicians of Joujouka perform a variety of Sufi music that is believed to be more than one thousand years old.[4][5] The collective became an item of interest for members of the Beat Generation in the 1950s, when Moroccan folklorist Mohamed Hamri informed European colleagues about the group's music.[3] Hamri operated a restaurant in Tangier that was frequented by European musicians and artists, and the Master Musicians often played there.[6] Brion Gysin, Paul Bowles, and William S. Burroughs all wrote about the group and one of them may have coined the name "The Master Musicians of Joujouka" during this period.[2][7] Timothy Leary famously, but erroneously, described the group and its music as "4000 years old", which has been repeated in many sources. The figure actually applies to previous Sufi traditions and not to the group or its music specifically.[8]

Brian Jones visited the collective many times while traveling in Morocco and in 1969 became the first Western musician to record with them. The album Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka was released in 1971 after Jones's death.[9] The collective played on the 1973 album Dancing in Your Head by Ornette Coleman.[10] Arnold Stahl oversaw recording of the double album Tribe Ahl Serif: Master Musicians of Jajouka in 1974.[11]

In the early 1990s, the collective split into two factions, as first reported by visiting musician Lee Ranaldo.[12] The faction fostered by Mohamed Hamri, and led by Ahmed Attar, retained the name "The Master Musicians of Joujouka". Meanwhile, another faction led by Bachir Attar, whose father had led the group during the Brian Jones period, took on the name "The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar".[13] The second group attracted protests at concerts in the United Kingdom,[14] and international journalists noted that the schism created discord in the collective's home village.[15][16] Other journalists and fans conceded that both groups were working to preserve their ancient musical heritage.[3]

The collective retaining the original name, and led by Ahmed Attar, resumed recording in the 1990s, releasing the album Joujouka Black Eyes in 1995.[17] They appeared on the various-artists albums Sufi: Moroccan Trance II in 1996[18] and 10%: File under Burroughs (a tribute to early supporter William S. Burroughs) the same year.[19] Their most recent studio album is Boujeloud, released in 2006.[20] In 2011 they made a guest appearance on the album The Great Escape Artist by Jane's Addiction.[21][22] The group frequently appears at music festivals in Europe,[23][24][25] and made an acclaimed live appearance at the BBC Radio 4, hosted by Jarvis Cocker, in 2017.[26][27] The same year the group toured Japan headlining Festival de Frue.[28] In April 2019 they collaborated with The Orb to create the live sound for the Dior Cruise Show in Marrakesh under the musical direction of Michel Gaubert.[29] They continue to operate out of their home village of Jajouka, where they also host an annual festival that is limited to 50 guests.[2][30] On 30 May 2023 Glastonbury Festival announced that The Master Musicians of Joujouka would open the main Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2023 playing alongside Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’Roses. [31]

Discography
Albums

References
  1. "The Master Musicians of Jajouka | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  2. Gerber, Suzanne (12 June 2015). "Inside the Oldest, Most Exclusive Dance Party in the World". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  3. "The Quietus | Features | Afrosonic | Jajouka Or Joujouka? The Conflicted Legacy of the Master Musicians". The Quietus. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  4. Staff writer (27 March 2013). "Joujouka Masters Musicians: The Healing Power of a 4000 year old Music". Morocco World News. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  5. Lemon, Jason (16 June 2015). "Morocco's Joujouka Music Festival is Cool but not 4,000 Years Old". StepFeed. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  6. Goodall, Mark (2013). Gathering of the Tribe: Music and Heavy Conscious Creation. Headpress. ISBN 978-1900486859.
  7. Pliable. "Discord among the Master Musicians". Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  8. Fuson, Tim (Winter 1996). "Renewed Pandemonium: The Continuing Legend of the Master Musicians of Jajouka". Journal of the International Institute. 3 (2). hdl:2027/spo.4750978.0003.217. ISSN 1558-741X.
  9. Brian Jones Presents: The Pipes of Pan at Jajouka – The Master Musicians of Jajouka | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 28 May 2020
  10. Swenson, John (22 September 1977). "Dancing in Your Head". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  11. Radio, Southern California Public (19 January 2011). "Peter Stenshoel's album of the week: Tribe Ahl Sherif's Master Musicians of Jajouka". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  12. Ranaldo, Lee (August 1996). "Into The Mystic: Lee Ranaldo's Jajouka Journal". The Wire (150).
  13. "No Stone unturned". The Independent. 21 July 1995. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  14. Strauss, Neil (12 October 1995). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  15. "The Master Musicians of Joujouka: The Faded Myth of the Goat-God – Qantara.de". Qantara.de – Dialogue with the Islamic World. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  16. "Past masters". The National. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  17. Joujouka Black Eyes – The Master Musicians of Joujouka | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 28 May 2020
  18. Moroccan Trance Music, Vol. 2: Sufi – The Gnoua Brotherhood of Marrakesh, The Master Musicians of Joujouka | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 28 May 2020
  19. Ambrose, Joe (2007). Chelsea Hotel Manhattan: A Raw Eulogy to a New York Icon. Headpress. ISBN 978-1900486606.
  20. "The Master Musicians of Joujouka: Boujeloud". PopMatters. 19 November 2006. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  21. Blabbermouth (12 April 2011). "JANE'S ADDICTION Collaborates With Master Musicians of Joujouka". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  22. "Jane's Addiction, "End to the Lies"". Billboard. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  23. Swash, Rosie; Gabbatt, Adam (24 June 2011). "Glastonbury 2011 live: Friday 24 June". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  24. "On y était : le festival Villa Aperta 2013 à Rome". Les Inrocks (in French). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  25. "Au Maroc, le village de Jajouka abrite le plus vieux groupe de rock du monde". Télérama (in French). 12 September 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  26. "BBC Radio 4 – Wireless Nights, Series 5, Joujouka". BBC. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  27. Hepworth, David (11 March 2017). "This week's best radio: Jarvis Cocker heads to Morocco's mountains". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  28. "Amid Japan's multitude of music festivals, Frue is worth celebrating". 25 October 2018.
  29. Sack, Adriano (16 May 2019). "Michel Gaubert: "'Prelude' von Simon Grab könnte mein Sex-Song des Tages sein"". Die Welt.
  30. "A musical mecca". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  31. "Glastonbury festival announces full lineup, adding Queens of the Stone Age, Skepta and more". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 June 2023.

Further reading
  • Hamri, Mohamed (1975), Tales of Joujouka. Capra Press.
  • Gysin, Brion, The Process.
  • Schuyler, Philip (2000) "Joujouka/Jajouka/Zahjoukah – Moroccan Music and Euro-American Imagination", in Armbrust, Walter, editor. "Mass Mediations: New Approaches to Popular Culture in the Middle East and Beyond". Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
  • Strauss, Neil (12 October 1995). "The Pop Life: To Save Jajouka, How About a Mercedes in the Village?". The New York Times.
  • Davis, Stephen (1993). Jajouka Rolling Stone: A Fable of Gods and Heroes. Random House.
  • Palmer, Robert (14 October 1971). Jajouka: Up the Mountain. Rolling Stone..
  • Davis, Stephen (2001). Old Gods Almost Dead. Broadway Books, 135–37, 172, 195–201, 227; 233–34, 248–53, 270, 354, 504–505, 508.
  • Trynka, Paul (2014) Brian Jones: The Making of The Rolling Stones Random House.
  • Sword, Harry (2021). Monolithic Undertoe White Rabbit Books.
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