Master Musicians Of Joujouka Check-in To Headline Beat Hotel Marrakech

Beat happening - Master Musicians Of Joujouka to headline Beat Hotel festival in Marrakech, March 2019. Photo credit: Syd Howells
Beat happening – Master Musicians Of Joujouka to headline Beat Hotel festival in Marrakech, March 2019. Photo credit: Syd Howells

The Master Musicians Of Joujouka have been announced for a headline show at the Beat Hotel Marrakech festival – taking place 28th to 31st March 2019 in Morocco.

The Master Musicians Of Joujouka will headline the opening night for this exciting new venture in sound on 28th March.

The festival is named after the Beat Hotel at 9 Rue Git-Le-Couer in the Latin Quarter of Paris, where notable residents included Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs in the 1950s-1960s.

Before moving to Paris, Gysin had spent the early 1950s in Morocco, where he worked with the Master Musicians Of Joujouka, who had a residency at The 1001 Nights restaurant in Tangier from 1954.

The original Beat Hotel is where Gysin introduced Burroughs to the ‘cut-up’ writing technique and collaborated with Ian Sommerville on the dreamachine and audio tape cut-ups.

Master Musicians Of Joujouka Manager Frank Rynne will present a talk ‘Meet The Dreamachine’ at the Beat Hotel Marrakech festival.

William S. Burroughs biographer and counterculture writer Barry Miles will talk on ‘Morocco, The Beats & The Late ‘60s’.

The Beat Hotel in this incarnation was launched at Glastonbury Festival in 2011 – the year the Master Musicians Of Joujouka performed on the Pyramid Stage.

Beat Hotel organisers said: “Taking inspiration from its namesake, and acting as a welcoming sanctuary for anyone who stumbled inside, The Beat Hotel opened its doors at Glastonbury Festival in 2011.

“In March 2019, the story continues, as the Beat Hotel follows the original Beats to Morocco, for a four-day sojourn in Marrakech. Taking place 15 minutes outside the city, and set across a 27-acre, palm tree-laden boutique resort, the Beat Hotel Marrakech brings together a line-up of live music and DJs, one-off culinary collaborations and a talks programme featuring some of today’s great minds and voices.”

The festival will be held at Fellah Hotel, located a short drive from Marrakech city centre.

For more information and to book tickets visit The Beat Hotel website

Booking now open for Master Musicians of Joujouka Festival 21-23 June 2019

The closing moments of the 2018 Master Musicians Of Joujouka Festival by Syd Howells
The closing moments of the 2018 Master Musicians Of Joujouka Festival by Syd Howells

Booking is now open for the 12th edition of the annual Master Musicians of Joujouka Festival in Joujouka, Morocco.

The three-day festival runs from Friday, 21 June to Sunday, 23 June 2019 and is limited to 50 full ticket holders.

Guests will be collected at Ksar El Kebir train station on Friday, 21 June and dropped off after the festival on Monday, 24 June before 12 noon.

Places include accommodation and full board.

Use the link below to pay for a deposit (non-refundable) or a full ticket which is refundable minus deposit until 21 April 2019. After this date places are forfeit.

Tickets are non-exchangeable and may not be resold.

For more information email Frank Rynne at: joujouka@gmail.com

 

Tickets for the Master Musicians of Joujouka Festival 21-23 June 2019:

For ticket payment options click here

If booking for two places or more please email joujouka@gmail.com and provide the name and email contact for the other ticket holder(s).


MMOJ Festival 21-3 June 19




Brian Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) RIP

The Master Musicians Of Joujouka pay their respects to Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones at Villa Janna, Marrakech
The Master Musicians Of Joujouka pay their respects to Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones at Villa Janna, Marrakech

The Master Musicians of Joujouka paid tribute to Brian Jones, on the 50th anniversary of his visit to their village in 1968, with their annual festival in Joujouka and a series of events in Marrakech, including a concert for Atlas Electronic.

Jones visited the village on 2nd August 1968 with Mohamed Hamri and was accompanied by Brion Gysin, Jones’ girlfriend Suki Potier and Olympic Studios recording engineer George Chkiantz.

Using a portable Uher two-track tape recorder Jones made recordings during his visit to Joujouka that where mixed by Jones on his return to London for what became the album Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka, released after his death in 1971 on Rolling Stones Records.

Melody Maker ad for the Master Musicians Of Joujouka album Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka
Melody Maker ad for the Master Musicians Of Joujouka album Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka

In his liner notes for the LP Jones said: “I don’t know if I have the stamina to endure the incredible constant strain of the festival.”

The Master Musicians of Joujouka performed a four-hour set at Villa Janna in Marrakech on 30th June 2018, with live visuals by Joachim Montessuis, that featured footage and images of the Master Musicians and Brian Jones to commemorate the 50 years since his visit.

Ahmed El Attar, pictured dancing (right) in 1968, around the time of Jones’ visit
Ahmed El Attar, pictured dancing in 1968, around the time of Jones’ visit

Current leader of the Master Musicians of Joujouka, Ahmed El Attar said: “I was 12-years-old learning drumming with my father and the Mallimin (Masters) when Brian Jones came. Brian Jones was very good. My father played rhaita with and for him and I danced and played my drum. He came with Hamri and Gysin. He had long hair and he rubbed my head. He brought a lot to Joujouka.”

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