something to take away
Caravanserai
A place where cultures meet. Introducing American audiences to some of the most exciting and dynamic artists from the Muslim world, Caravanserai music and film residencies celebrate global diversity with the arts, building bridges to a better tomorrow.
Caravanserai's fall 2012 music residency tour will feature Majid Bekkas Gnawa Ensemble. Hailing from Sale, Morocco, Majid Bekkas is a contemporary master of gnawa - one of West Africa's oldest musical traditions - and a predecessor to American jazz and blues. Playing his signature guembri, a three-stringed bass lute, and accompanied by a colorful ensemble of dancers and singers jubilantly clapping rhythms with special iron castanets called qarqaba, the Majid Bekkas Gnawa ensemble will take audiences on a spiritual journey to the soul of the gnawa culture.