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Thank you to everyone who saw the Master Musicians of Joujouka live in Marrakesh recently as they played the first Beat Hotel Festival.

The Master Musicians Of Joujouka travelled from their village in the Ahl Serif mountains to perform a set on the Interzone stage at the festival at the Fellah Hotel, Marrakesh on 28^th March.

A 12-strong line-up of the Master Musicians of Joujouka ignited the opening night concert at The Beat Hotel festival with a two-hour performance of traditional Moroccan Sufi Trance music played on ghaita and tebel, with dancer Boujeloud dressed in goat skins and invoking the Rites of Pan.

The Beat Hotel at 9 Git-Le-Couer in the Latin Quarter of Paris played host to residents including Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs in the 1950s and 1960s after they had spent time in Morocco working with and writing about the Master Musicians of Joujouka.

Before moving to Paris, Gysin opened The 1001 Nights restaurant in Tangier where the Master Musicians Of Joujouka had a residency as the house band from 1954.

This incarnation of the Beat Hotel was launched at Glastonbury Festival in the UK in 2011 – the same year the Master Musicians of Joujouka opened the festival on the Pyramid Stage. At their first event in Morocco, The Beat Hotel upheld the literary traditions and artistic creativity associated with its namesake.

During the festival a programme of talks was held, including Talking Trance with Master Musicians of Joujouka Manager Frank Rynne and musician James Holden, who performed with Gnawa musician Maalem Houssam Gania at the festival, in conversation with journalist Kate Hutchinson. On 29^th March, the festival’s Speaker’s Corner area was transformed with a Dreamachine installation and a Meet The Dreamachine talk led by Frank Rynne on the origins of the light device capable of inducing “drug free hallucinations” conceptualised by Gysin during his time at the Beat Hotel in Paris.

Beat and ‘60s Counterculture legend Barry Miles was scheduled to talk on A Personal Journey Into Morocco: The Beats And The Late ‘60s but cancelled following the death of his wife Rosemary prior to the event. Miles engineered the 1974 LP The Primal Energy That Is The Music And Ritual Of Jajouka, Morocco. The Master Musicians of Joujouka send sincere condolences to Barry and his son, Theo.

Live photography by Justin Gardner

Check out more footage from the festival via The Beat Hotel on Instagram and Facebook

The Master Musicians of Joujouka host A Requiem For Brian Jones festival in Joujouka, Morocco from Friday, 5^th July to Sunday, 7^th July

For more information about the festival and to book tickets visit here

The 12^th annual Master Musicians of Joujouka festival from 21^st-23^rd June is sold out

The Master Musicians of Joujouka performed in collaboration with The Orb for the Dior 2020 Cruise show in Morocco.

The live performance was held for the launch of the Cruise 2020 collection by Christian Dior’s Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri, at Palais El Badi in Marrakesh on 29^th April.

Musical Direction: Michel Gaubert

Master Musicians of Joujouka arrangement: Frank Rynne with production by Frank Rynne, Carwyn Ellis and Aladin Ilou

Business Co-ordinator for the Master Musicians of Joujouka: Rikki Stein

The Orb: Alex Paterson and Michael Rendell

Show produced by Bureau Betak

For more info or booking email joujouka@gmail.com

Video: Edited by Marek Pytel www.realitystudio.co.uk

A purr-fect surprise star at Master Musicians of Joujouka and The Orb show for Dior

During the Master Musicians of Joujouka and The Orb performance for the Dior 2020 Cruise show in Morocco an unlikely guest made an appearance as a cat made its way onto the catwalk and strolled among the models as they walked by.

Watch film here (via BBC)

The Master Musicians Of Joujouka host A Requiem For Brian Jones festival in Joujouka, Morocco from Friday, 5^th July to Sunday, 7^th July

The festival will commemorate 50 years since Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, who recorded the Master Musicians Of Joujouka for the Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka album, died on 3^rd July 1969. Places at the festival are limited to 50 full ticket holders. Guests will be collected at Ksar El Kebir train station on Friday, 5^th July and dropped off after the festival on Monday, 8^th July before 12 noon. Places include accommodation and full board.

For more information about the festival and to book tickets visit here

The previously announced 12^th annual Master Musicians Of Joujouka festival to be held on 21^st-23^rd June is sold out

The Master Musicians Of Joujouka performed live in collaboration with The Orb as Dior presented their 2020 Cruise collection in Morocco.

The Master Musicians Of Joujouka and the Orb provided the live soundtrack for the launch of the Cruise 2020 collection by Christian Dior’s Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri, at Palais El Badi in Marrakesh on 29^th April.

For this special one-off performance, the ancient Sufi trance music of the Master Musicians Of Joujouka was presented with an electronic soundscape in collaboration with The Orb, who celebrate their 30^th anniversary this year.

The Master Musicians Of Joujouka arranged music for the show with Master Musicians Of Joujouka Manager Frank Rynne, Carwyn Ellis (The Pretenders, Edwyn Collins, Colorama) and Aladin Ilou (HCM) for the 20-minute catwalk show.

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The musical director for the show, Michel Gaubert conceived and directed the collaboration between these artists for Dior and Bureau Betak, working closely with both groups for this visionary collaboration.

The evening also featured a surprise guest appearance by Diana Ross performing her 1980 hit ‘I’m Coming Out’.

The venue for the event was the 16^th century Palais El Badi.

On the presentation of the 2020 Cruise collection a statement from Dior said: “In the heart of Marrake­­­sh, the sumptuous El Badi palace positively sparkled for the occasion of the 2020 Dior Cruise show by Maria Grazia Chiuri. A voyage outside of time, punctuated by rich savoir-faire.  

“Above, there are only stars. On the ground, thousands of candles illuminate the ancient El Badi Palace with, in the distance, the majestic Atlas Mountains overlooking the night’s proceedings.

“Further heightening this enchanting scene are the melodies played by Joujouka players, who are proud of their thousand-year-old history and whose percussions, bamboo flutes and ghaitas (the Arabic oboe) mingle with electronic rhythms by the English group The Orb, pioneers of the “ambient house” style.

“For one night, the El Badi Palace, the late sixteenth-century “Palace of the incomparable”, offers up all of its splendors of yesteryear. Through the 2020 Cruise show, Maria Grazia Chiuri asserts her wish to create a dialogue between cultures, a promise of a shared horizon, a common ground rich in diversity.”

Photography STN LENS @stnlens

Watch the the Master Musicians Of Joujouka and The Orb at the Dior 2020 Cruise show here: