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Samifati & Trance Gnawa Express is an innovative artistic creation, mixing the powerful gnawa music from Morocco with electronic music and visual projections, resulting in a festive trance. The electronics bring additional force to this formidable traditional music, but without overpowering it. This hypnotic mixture makes your mind and body drift away in space… The name of the band is of course a little nod to Trans-Europe Express, the famous album of the German electronic masters Kraftwerk.
Hamouda, Amine and Ahmed are young gnawa artists from Essaouira, the Moroccan ‘capital’ of gnawa. They are dancers and musicians of the famous Gnaoua festival, experienced in musical fusions. But they were looking for a musical encounter which fitted their generation, for a contemporary, innovative take on gnawa music.
They met with the Samifati duo – Sami on the violin and electronics, Axel on visuals – who had been traveling around the world for more than 10 years, and wanted to delve more into Gnawa culture for a very long time. When the French Institute of Essaouira was looking for an original show to present during the 24th edition of the Gnaoua Festival, all the stars aligned. The two bands met and everything came together organically.
Punchy, uplifting, energetic and hypnotizing, with their powerful music and mesmerizing visuals Samifati & Transe Gnawa Express is bringing gnawa into the 22nd century… and the audience into space.
This project can be adapted to the stages of large festivals as well as to smaller clubs.
