Sonic Collective Sounds of Dra?a Valley, Morocco [WAV]

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Sonic Collective collaborated with producers, field recordists and composer/performers Susie Ibarra and Jake Landau to record a collection of percussion, flute and strings from 5 traditional artist groups from the Southern Dr?a Valley. These groups feature Def, Akalal, Ganga, Hassani, Gnawa and Desert Blues. Produced in collaboration with Joudour Sahara Music Program, Playing for Change Foundation, and Aziza Chaouni Projects, the collection of sounds was recorded in MHamid El Ghizlane, the last oasis in the Southern Draa Valley of southeastern Morocco.

The Southern Dr?a Valley, because of its liminal localization at the crossroads of ancient caravan routes and at the edge of the Sahara desert, has a unique cultural heritage, is influenced by Sub-Saharan, Arabic and Amazigh traditions. A key stop along the salt and gold caravan routes, Mhamid for centuries has seen bands of nomads from Senegal, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Algeria, and further east from the Arab world not only pass through on their way to Marrakesh to bring gold from Timbuktu and goods from other areas, but settle within the oasis of the Dr?a River as it provided opportunity to build a livelihood around the plentiful date palm trees.

The traditional songs of the Dr?a Valley are a result of the harmony between civilization and nature that characterize culture of the oasis, in which the harshness of the surrounding landscape and climate is counterbalanced by a collective management of natural resources, the efficient cultivation of arable land, and caravan trade. For several centuries, the Dr?a Valley has played a central role in Moroccan cultural life, since it was the crossroad of Islamic civilizations coming from the Arab world, western civilizations coming from the Nord, and African civilizations coming from the South. - quote from