We drive to baking hot Marrakesh and enjoy a welcome break in the air conditioned airport lounge to update blogs, sort photos and audio files. Teo arrives happy and well-prepared for the ride. We drive on insanely hairy roads to Essaouira and arrive late for a nice (slightly tourist priced) dinner. We discuss our modus operandi and ways to work around the new challenges of working with audio and visual in parallel.
DAY 15
We meet our couch-surfing contact, Simo, a guitarist and singer-songwriter from Safi and Essaouira who, in the last 9 months, has already received 80 visitors from all over the world. For someone who has never been out of Morocco, his contact with so many cultures makes him a very interesting person to interview, so we organise a session with him for the following day. He is also playing at the restaurant Chez Les Freres that night, a nice cosy place that turns into a mad jam that lasts half the night. A veritable melting pot of styles, American alt-Rock covers juxtaposed with Gnawa basslines, crowd chants and funky flute. We meet Yassine, a percussionist from Safi, Robi, a French - Columbian flautist living in Essaouira and another Yassine, a charismatic Moroccan Ginbri player, living in Switzerland.
DAY 16
Much sorting to do. Audio editing etc. Ramadan has hit Simo hard and a no show sees us wondering if we need to search for other options today. Yassine (aka the Moroccan Richard Gere) serendipidously turns up and is up for recording some djembe so we head for Chez les Freres (thanks again!) to record a very rhythmic and smiley session with him. A few technical hitches cause us some frustrating delays, compounded with the fast-breaking feast time drawing near and the light fading fast, we end the session and head for the van for a steam releasing secret glass of wine and set about putting things in order for the next day. Our meeting with Robi in the evening brings up some interesting issues about musicians rights, the origins of Gnawa music and the state of affairs regarding visas for musicians. Very informative. We present the project to him and explain our situation, our intentions and that we are aiming to give the musicians a voice and a face rather than robbing their music and disappearing. He likes the idea and agrees to record with us the next day. We are of course very happy, he is a quality musician with lots of experience and we look forward to it.
DAY 17
We interview Simo and talk about his experiences as a couch surfer who has welcomed several foreigners to his home. Our location is superb, the walls of Essaouira overlooking the famous bastion and we are happy with the results. We arrange to record a guitar and vocals session later on the day. In the meantime we head for Bob music for a darbooka session with Abdulhamed and record some street scenes. The afternoon we meet up with Robi at Casa Vera (a beautiful terrace top restaurant run by (uncannily a friend of Teo's, Thais). He is also doing the Ramadan and is exhausted but still full of enthusiasm and creativity. We record a great interview full of charismatic smiles and food for thought and then film him playing flute on the track known as git pick at the moment (yes, we will change it). The sunset over the sea as a backdrop and his great licks make for a superb session. In the evening, a delicious and insanely well priced meal and drinks on the terrace of Teros to see the band Gnawa Family. A full and productive day.
DAY 18
Simo is finally inspired to jump on board and a lyric, melody session with Ayesha results in a catchy verse-chorus in Darija Arabic: "You look at me, all black and covered and you think I'm useless, but I am a book full of food for thought". We record in the cafe Dar Ayour and despite time pressure from the waitress, she is patient enough to let us get our last killer take and we are satisfied. Simo is very photogenic, with a characterful voice and we are happy to have collaborated with him. Before we head off, we stop for some freshly grilled fish at the famous fish market and are serenaded by Abdu and AbdeReza on the violin and traditional drum. Big smiles and a handsome tip for the musicians make our Essaouira goodbye a sweet one.
We drive to mad Marrakesh and arrive at the campsite at midnight ready for the next chapter.
Recorded Musicians:
Yassine Aachir (drums Danga Dof)
sweatheart_2009@live.fr
tel: 0021 26 48 91 19 03
Simo Khizami (guitar & voice Danga Dof)
tel: 0021 26 75 45 12 15
www.myspace.com/
Robi George ( flute)
robilor@hotmail.com
www.myspace.com/elibre
Abdulhamed Andjar (darbooka)
bob_music2000@hotmail.fr
Abdul & AbdeRezza (violin and traditional drum)
fish market musicians (no contact)
Special Thanks to:
Chez les Fréres - Restaurant
3 Bis, Rue Sidi Mgdoul - Essaouira
tel:06 72 38 88 96
(for the recording of Yassine Aachir - drummer of Danga Dop)
Dar Ayour - Restaurant
16 Rue Skala BP 626 Essaouira
www.darayour.blogspot.com
(for the recording of Simo Khizami - voice and guitar of Danga Dop)
Casa Vera - Restaurant
Placa My Hassan
www.bestrestaurantsmaroc.com
(for the recording of Robi George - flute)
Bob Music - Artinasat de musique
3, Rue Youssef Ben Tachafine
www.daftnotstupid.com
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