Myths and Reality

PAUL BOWLES, Tribal musical resistance in the Magreb colonies?
"Hi, I remember you, weren't you were here before" the Tangier street hustler throws a come-on hoping to hit one of 2 things; one that maybe this isn't my first time in Morocco, and two perhaps I'm stupid enough to fall for his line. It's December 1996 going on 1997 over 2 decades since my first visit to the Barbary coast and a good 35 years since my initial childhood fascination with the music of the Levant and Magreb. That the initiation to such matters was via a beatnik neighbor in the suburbs of Los Angeles in 1961 seems to about to complete full circle. Even though my previous 3 trips to Morocco were to experience music first hand as a street musician jamming on rooftops, cafes, clubs and shops this trip was specifically to spend sometime with the man often accredited as being the grandfather of all beats, the late poet, composer, writer, linguist and musicologist Paul Bowles.

Many of those who began inquiries into the music of Arab musics in the 1960s, encountered what seemed to be a censorship as old as the inquisition. This was seemingly nowhere near as pronounced as in the English-speaking world where a conspicuous absence of detailed information on the music of one of the world’s most formidable musical civilizations was conspicuously absent. In fact it wasn't until 2006 that any detailed study into the music of al-Andalus, a form which originated in the 11th century and a key influence on both European and Arabic musics, was finally published in the English language [Ruth Davs’ Ma'luf: Reflections on the Arab Andalusian Music of Tunisia Rowman and Littlefield/ 2005]. It is hard to believe it has only been a decade since the internet, (combined with the fashionable interest in world music) has led to an avalanche of information and recordings from every corner of the globe. Before then much had to be found on foot. I knocked on Bowles door hoping for some answers.

Paul Bowles opened the door in his bathrobe, after introducing myself as an amateur musicologist and world traveler he quickly welcomed me into his house and led me to his bedroom. Being over 80 years old and having numerous health problems, it seemed he preferred spending most of his time in bed. Over the next few days though, I'd find out that it was from this bed that he still held court with a variety of filmmakers, writers, musicologists and like-minded friends that seemed to constantly be swirling through his apartment. Today though he was alone and hobbling back to his bed in a grandfatherly like way said "if you smoke tobacco, you'd better stop now. All my health problems late in life have been caused by tobacco." On the other hand sitting on the corner of his bed discussing a former Tangier resident and musician acquaintance we had in common, he was shocked to find out he had returned to the United States. "How he could possibly do something like that, he liked to smoke kif all the time and marijuana is illegal in the United States!" Bowles then opened a package of Triskets(tm) which is sort of like an American Tekla(tm) and eating out of the box offered me a few of the snacks.

"The Arabs have been trying to colonize North Africa for over 400 years, and they haven't succeeded yet." Bowles replied when I asked there wasn't more information either inside or outside of the country available about the diverse tribal and regional musics of Morocco. Bowles may have had a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Relocating to North Africa in the late 1940s, his interest in linguistics and the non-Arab musics and languages of Morocco, did not harmonize with a post-colonial North African country struggling with the process of independence, unification and modernization. In the eyes of many ‘progressive’ Moroccans his agenda was often seen as a little out of step, with the attempt to form a modern Arab unification and identity for the country. Still when he received a Rockefeller grant, in 1959 to record the musics of Morocco, he was initially issued official permission and some logistic support. That Royal support though was withdrawn, before he had completed the full schedule of recordings as planned. In Bowles book “Their Heads are Green and Their Hands are Blue” he details how among the Moroccan aristocracy ‘rural’ musics are as likely to be dismissed as quaint and insignificant in Morocco as elsewhere. Luckily Bowles finished the recordings on his own, and today along with his extensive documentation, these works are safely stored and available via the United States Library of Congress.

Despite the growing interest in Moroccan music from the outside world in the 90s, the insensitivity of Moroccan officialdom towards the very traditions of storytellers and folk music, which Bowles elevated in his work, seemed to remain a raw nerve with Bowles. Even in 1996 when asking Bowles if anything could be found in French or Spanish print on Moroccan music in Tangier, he shook his head was very skeptical that anything could be found. Regardless he referred me to a local bookstore. Much to his surprise I returned the next day with a copy of a Ahmed Aydoun's ‘Musiques du Maroc’, which had been published a year earlier in 1995. Leafing through the book, he liked most of what he saw but drew my attention to a few sentences he thought were condescending of the musical disciplines and traditions they were referring to. To listen to Bowles it seemed as if in 1996 Moroccan scholars were as distant from recognizing the Berber's as a 'musical civilization' as the Anglophile scholars in the 60s and 70s were from recognizing any part of Arabic musical civilization. Yet Bowles voiced another complaint that seemed to supersede all others. “When I first arrived here every cafe had a storyteller or musician performing live’ Bowles told me. To Bowles, who took visceral joy in the local languages and musics, to wake up in the 80s and 90s in a country where suddenly all eyes in the café were glued to the television screen was a disappointing development.

Eating biscuits and talking with the ever enthusiastic and culturally inquisitive Bowles would lead one to think, that it was his hospitality, as much as his often out-of-print field recordings and the ethnographic passages of his writings, that enabled him to forward his curiosity about Moroccan music to the west. Everyone from visiting music enthusiasts, literary scholars, filmmakers, and culturally minded tourists were known to knock on Bowles door -- often finding a warm welcome. Bowles spirit today can be heard in everything from Brian Jone’s 60s and Bill Laswell’s 90s recordings of the Joujouka musicians of the Rif mountains, to the western fascination today with Gnawa. The annual Le Festival Gnaoua d'Essaouira as well points to Bowles contribution and mentoring of the festival’s founder Richard Horowitz.

As luck would have it was New Years 1997. Returning to my hotel, the receptionist said somewhat apologetically, ‘we are having a party tonight.’ I looked at her a bit askance as to how that might be a problem, and she added ‘the music will be Arab, we hope you don’t mind’.
Starting at sunset; on the roof an Arab pop music band accompanied dancers, in the halls Gnawa music was being played with the musicians running up and down the stairs, and in the ground-floor café-bar women in traditional white dresses danced to violins and drums. The music continued well past dawn.

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JOZEF PACHOLCZYK; Generalizations are impossible.
1996 was the year Jozef Pacholczyk published his article “Music and Astronomy in the Muslim World” which detailed the underlying symbolism and cosmology found in much of Arabic music. Published in MIT press’ Leonardo: Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, the article explored the direct and indirect cosmology and the sciences influenced and continue to influence the development of music in the Arab world. Even though his work was hard to find during the 80s and 90s Pacholczyk’s articles and lectures on such subjects as "The Relationship Between the Nawba of Morocco and the Music of the Troubadours and Trouvères", “The Secular music in the Near East”, and “Sufyana Musiqi, the Classical Music of Kashmri” explored not only the complexities of the Arabic musical world but the unified ways music sometimes flowed back and forth between Asia, North Africa and Europe. After all Pacholczyk reminds “99% of all the instruments in the western orchestra have origins somewhere in the greater Arab world”.

Now as Professor Emeritus of the University of Maryland, he has retired and is living in Arizona. It had been over 10 years since I’d have spoken with Pacholczyk. It was a long telephone call, but since much of his career was spent in the deep study of Arabic music the resulting conversation is priceless.

The Prophet Alayhi Wa Sallam said: "There will come a people from my Ummah who will seek to make lawful zina (fornication and adultery), the wearing of silk (for men), the drinking of wine and the use of musical instruments. Some people will stay at the side of the mountain and when their shepherd comes in the evening to ask them for his needs, they will say: Come back to us tomorrow. Then Allah will destroy them during the night by causing the mountain to fall upon them while He changes others into apes and swine. They will remain in this state until the Day of Resurrection." [Bukhari]

DJ: You say that the general concept that music is forbidden in Islamic society is largely a fiction. Given the quote above many both in the west and the east seem to be debating this, can you please explain?

JP: [Over my career] I was looking at the development of music in such places as Indonesia, India, Iran, North African, Arabic countries, Turkey etc... and I would say I can not make any generalization as to the entire area or as to Islam in general. The only thing there is, is that theologically there is no prohibition of music in the Koran. Most of these notions come from the Hadith, which followed the writing of the Koran, and how these are interpreted varies all over the place. There are four principle schools of law developed around the 10th century, and this ended by becoming a canon to some. Because not everyone recognizes Hadith, some schools consider the Koran only, some consider Hadith and Koran as equivalent, so it is basically a theological question.

Having said that, if you look into the entire world of Islam I can say that there is very strong stratification within each society. In most areas there are scholars of theology and the law of Islam, they will be going directly to the Hadith and their views will be much more strong and conservative. Then there are people [whose interpretation and practice] is depending on ethnic origin, or level of education, and the level of knowledge of Islam. And this is particularly pronounced in Indonesia, which only in the beginning of the 19th century began to be acquainted with orthodoxy. It is only with the introduction of steamships that Indonesians were able to go to Haj in Mecca. Otherwise if you look at the sources you will find Dutch scholars saying things like ‘in Indonesia none of the 5 pillars of Islam are noticeable, but there are a multitude of other pillars’. Because Islam had been introduced in the 12 to 13th century to Indonesia via India, which was already impregnated with Indian elements and with mystical elements. And when this traveled to Indonesia it began to develop totally on its own.

Then you have a situation you likely only find in Indonesia, where the Gamelan is performed within the precinct of the mosque…and this puts a curve on everything.
So I would like to strongly suggest not to make generalizations, because it is impossible. You may have various people who in various ways acquainted with sharia. And their beliefs will vary by either lack of knowledge, or simply not caring that much about maintaining every word of Hadith. And then keep in mind there are many Hadiths, there are plenty. Then you can always find a sheik who says do this or that.

DJ: That's a very fluid picture you are painting especially when considered across such a vast portion of the planet, and nearly 2000 years of time.

JP: Yes and remember it depends on the strata of society as well. And then out of it there are all those Sufis. And Sufism was, lets forget about the origins of it because you can think of many possibilities, was a reaction against the legalistic aspect of sharia. And in many Sufi orders the rules of sharia were not really looked at very seriously, and they use music as a means to obtain ecstasy. And with the exception of a few orders who did not use much music, but most of the others, like the [Turkish] Mevlevi use music as part of ritual.

And actually in some countries, such as Iran and Turkey the, classical music was basically produced by the Sufis. In Turkey it was mostly Mevlevi, until now they are not actually legalized yet, because there was a ban of the Sufis in Turkey, but they are part of the cultural heritage, and many of the best musicians are Sufis.

DJ: It seems like it is hard then to generalize about the role of the Sufis in the vast regions of the Islamic world as well. In Morocco it some orders are very controversial and in Turkey as well, can we say Sufism is opposition to the orthodoxy?

Sufisim was always in opposition, and when Sufism started to become an important factor, there was an attempt to put a little bit of a damper on it, and the whole of the religious schools known as madrassas, in the Islamic world were to counteract their activities, the Sufis were sometimes considered radical.
And it was really Al-Ghazali in the beginning of the 11th century, because of his own authority and association with Sufis sort of reconciled the so-called orthodoxy and Sufism. However the tension between the two groups is always there.

DJ: In Morocco and the Magreb with these religious orders there seems to be a considerable amount of influence that is from south of the Sahara and/or non-Islamic, pre-Islamic sources. Does Sufism often have pre-Islamic roots and influence?

In my opinion yes, but I'm not talking about Morocco, such as with Gnawa which are sort of a para-Sufi. Some are considered really Sufis others are just healers. But then you have the group Aissawa who are strongly musical and are active. But if you look at some of the orders in Morocco they were illegalized because there was too much violence in terms of mutiliation.
However most of them use music and what we sometimes called dance, not really dance but kinetic motions that are part of the ritual. And to whether this is pre-Islamic… everything probably goes to Adam and Eve.

For example when I looked at the history of the Sufis from Kashmir and Sufism’s arrival from central Asia, and the refugees from Persia. They were accepted with open arms in Kashmir, and this was because the Sufi doctrine was very close the Shivist mysticism which Kashmir was the center of. And this might be an indication -- it is often said many ideas came from India, through Persia (etc…), but this is yet to really be researched.

DJ: So this is a speculation?

Not even a speculation, it is a hint, a possibility.

DJ: And what about the relation between the Sufis and mysticism in the Christian world, have you found any parallels?

I don't know...I'm not a specialist in this...but I do know that the Sufis and some Christian thinkers were in many ways quite close to each other. Some of the Saints had at least some familiarity with Sufism, because those ideas were floating all around the Mediterranean. Later is much more documented, it is accepted for instance the free masons took much from the Near East. And most certainly Spain was full of Sufis and those ideas were known to the Christian scholars of medieval times.

DJ: So how far can we go in our comparison with the syncretism (pre world-religion beliefs mixed with local ancient beliefs) in variants of Christianity, that are found in the fringes of the Christian world such as throughout Latin America and historically throughout Europe?
There is always a problem, for example in Christianity you have a central authority that is responsible for the orthodox doctrine, and you have a villager that does not have a theological education, other than what they were told by the local priest, then you have variance. Look at Italy, which is right under the Pope's eye, if you have really serious and important trouble you go to San Antonio. You don't go to Jesus because Jesus cannot do it, San Antonio can do it. So here you have already doctrinal differences.
Now this is with a centralized (Christian) system including a centralized catechism, and in Islam such centralization -- I don't know if it exists, and there is even more possibility of variance.

For Józef M. Pacholczyk’s Sufiana Musiqi. The Classical Music of Kashmir.
See http://web.uni-bamberg.de/ppp/ethnomusikologie/ims-series.htm

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Daevid Allen;
Transcendence of centuries old European musical taboos in the 20th century.
My first encounter with Daevid Allen was during the late 70s in Spain, when over an exchange of jazz cassettes he jumped between the discussion of Joseph Jarmon and Anthony Braxton to Antonin Artaud, I was alerted to the fact that Allen was far better read than your average guitar slinging rocker. Since then, getting better familiar with his visionary musical projects such as Gong and University of Errors, not to mention seeing Allen and his floating crews live, I’ve enjoyed hearing his humorous musical metaphysics, combined with a wide literary and musical bandwidth at work. So it was not a complete surprise in the early 90s to find Allen hosting a series of workshops based on ideas and practices he had gathered while studying the esoteric Mystery school teachings. During sporatic discussions and interviews over the years as well as with this 2007 interview for His Voice, Allen proves himself unique and inspiring among musicians in the capacity to discuss his insightful journey into the-other-business-of-music that is not the “music business”.

DJ: The late composer and musical theorist Dane Rudhyar pointed out from the time of Pope Gregory the Great, in the West, the Roman Catholic began to restrict and formalize modes and tonality, in his words they were "able to purge from the early modes all the mystical elements inherited from the Gnostic and Near Eastern traditions."
I was curious in your studies of Greek antiquity, or other music inquiries if you had encountered anything that resonates with Runhyar's historic claim?

DA: Around the thirteenth century when the flourishing Cathar/Troubador movement (the Albigensians in the south of France north of Spain) was attacked and forced underground by the papal crusaders to politicize and basically dumb down their mystical teachings of Christianity, an edict was produced by Rome forbidding the use of church music written in the key of Bb. I believe Cathars/Troubadors played the most potent spiritual music of the last 2000 years in that it had a simultaneous ability to evoke both high spiritual & profane sexual love....a potency which remains unequalled today even with the extraordinary developments in music in recent years.

Obviously this was anathema to the church control strategies & had to be destroyed.
To quote from: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Music_Theory/Chords... “The diminished seventh was strictly forbidden in early sacred music as it contained the tritone interval; the mathematical halfway point in the octave which allegedly sounded Satanic.”

From memory I believe that this key of Bb was considered dangerous because music written in this key was thought to expand consciousness in a mystical direction, something that was forbidden by the Catholic Church as part of their doctrinal enforcements. Although it only lasted for a relatively short period I feel that something was lost at this time that was never recovered.

DJ: Do you see, hear or feel any resonance of such historical restrictions placed on the 'mystical resonance’s' of music?

DA: By the 14th century mystical wing of Christianity had gone underground, later filtering down into a number of secret societies such as the Rosecrutions who kept the mystic spirit of Christianity alive until the more permissive 19th Century when a new generation of Mystery School Adepts such as Steiner presented the forbidden teachings in new forms.
Dane Rudhyar in his theory of time cycles believed that in the gradual development of a conscious humanity there are periodic waves of dissidents and revolutionaries such as we have seen in the hippy movement which are subsequently repressed and rejected by reverse waves of reactionaries and conservatives such as we see now.

DJ: Any other comments you may have on what Runhyar noted, about the early control of the modes?

DA: Aldous Huxley is quoted as saying: "There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and introducing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution." [Aldous Huxley's lecture to The California Medical School in San Francisco in 1961].

Just as music can bring down the walls of the fortress cities, music is also one of the most potent weapons in population control. Throughout history, much music has been banned for these reasons. It’s a very interesting subject.

DJ: You mentioned hippy music. For many young radio listeners in the 60s, the expanded use of tonality in rock that first appeared with tracks like the Byrds "8 Miles High". The Yardbirds ‘Shapes of Things” seemed to work as conduits of ideas originating in Asian/African sounds. Much of this for those who later became familiar with Coltrane and related artists seemed to be ideas brewing in jazz passed through the rock music of the 60s. Can you give us, for the sake of point of reference a few examples of rock songs or jazz works that either aspire or reach in your opinion the sort of expanded use of tonality that resonated with the sort of metaphyical qualities or potentials Stiener, Gurdieff and others were suggesting?

DA: It’s probably more accurate to say that many of us aspired to resonate with these potentials but as practitioners it is difficult to assess its successful application without skilled esoteric disinterested observers. Many of us had a vague mystical calling to this end but there were few who worked consciously and precisely.

My first public experiment in pulling together diverse spiritual movements (networking) was a concert named after the comet Kahoutek held at London's LYCEUM THEATRE in the Strand. I enveigled Virgin into printing a hundred silver tickets two of which I posted to all of the English esoteric spiritual groups I could find. Some minor power play amongst the onlookers & some curious psychic phenomena was reported on stage but generally the event was not significantly more spiritual by the audience sprinkled with the many faces of the magus.

Cross system co-operation was yet to come.
The most interesting work on numerology/sacred geometry in GONG was done on the YOU album. With tracks: MASTER BUILDER, THE ISLE OF EVERYWHERE the time signatures and chordal progressions were organized to connect with & empower the inner structure of the GONG POWER SYMBOL which is itself powered by its visible demonstration of the resolution of pi (22 over 7)...impossible to achieve by mathematics.

Both Arthur Brown and Robert Fripp studied Gurdjieff and in particular worked with Gurdjieff pupil: J.G.BENNETT.

To quote from Alex Burn’s article
“Paradise Regained: King Crimson and Robert Fripp”
“During the Red recording sessions, (1973/74) Fripp encountered the psychological/cosmological teachings of the Graeco-Armenian magus George Gurdjieff (who also influenced the recording artist Kate Bush). Crimson's perpetual instability and his own doubts about his high aims had created a charged atmosphere, Fripp was reading a book by Gurdjieff's pupil John Bennett, which posed the question Is There 'Life' on Earth?. Fripp reacted to its multiple implications. It was a transformative experience that led a now ego-less Fripp to virtually erase himself from the industry. He took a ten-month sabbatical at Sherbourne House, an "esoteric school" founded by Bennett. The harsh conditions of the school and practical philosophy he learnt about 'waking up' led to Fripp re-evaluating his goals and equipped him with the tools needed for his next stage of growth as an artist.

The Gurdjieff exercise of "self remembering" (a form of active meditation where the individual retains awareness of their inner, subjective thoughts and feelings whilst focusing attention on the objective world) were a focal point of Fripp's first solo effort, Exposure (1979), which featured a host of musicians including Daryl Hall, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. Fripp later downplayed Gurdjieff's influence on his work, after a hostile music press was baffled by his philosophical commentaries.”

DJ: Much of your music with Gong and elsewhere seems drenched in these sort of potentialities, yet do you feel your musical explorations for musical metaphysical potentials are limited such things as:

DJ:…audio compression?
DA: Tonal compression can suffocate the living sound.
DJ: By marketing?
DA: Unrealistic claims can mislead & disillusion the listener.
DJ: By limitations of the standard rock venue or length of performance?
DA: We all seek some ideal form of open temple & ritual.
DJ: By other technological or economical factors?
DA: An excellent sound system such as we had in Amsterdam for the UnConventiion last year will hugely expand the listening/spiritual experience. Thus the economic factor of affordability can hugely influence the experience.
DJ: By any other factors…?
DA: The biggest limitation is still the reluctance amongst musicians to go for the highest goal with 100% devotion.

DJ: Looking through Bowles essays on his musical explorations of North Africa he noted that when some of the Sufi and Pagan forms of musical ritual were prohibited generally it just meant they continued in one form or another in the 'underground'. Would you say your study into the Greek Mystery schools is an inquiry and journey into a centuries old "underground" cultural phenomena?

DJ: My Mystery School initiations & experiences were sourced primarily from Tibet. The Mystery School is an ancient and until recently, secret teaching tradition that deals with the origin of spiritual understanding -- teachings coming from the essential skeleton structure behind all religion. It has always been passed by personal one-to-one oral teachings but it can be dangerous knowledge unless the student has first proved their inner strength though a system of initiations. It has remained underground so long because a little of this knowledge in the wrong hands could be catastrophic. Now it is universally available and I have my fingers crossed. We are currently running Self Initiation Workshops in the UK through our GAS website.

DJ: Which of your current music projects, (CDs or collaborations) do you feel work more towards the expanded use of tone, that you have been reaching for, and working with through out your musical path?

DA: In the early eighties I suffered performance burnout & returned to Australia to refresh my creative curiosity. I felt that progressive rock had gotten too complicated and my search for simplicity led me naturally back to the mantra OM.

While meditating on OM with all its efficient simplicity & power it came to me to compose twelve single note compositions to be used as aids to focus & concentration. The seven minute versions of the seven major scale drones were composed in 1985 & used experimentally with breath therapy as aids to meditation in Self Initiation Workshops with considerable success. The “Seven Drones” were eventually released on CD by Voiceprint Records UK in 1989 & progressed through three pressings before being retired from the catalogue.

It has now been digitally remastered & is being released again by GAS as a CD and as downloads from www.planetgong.co.uk.

The seven drones were also performed live by an all-star Gong guitarists lineup of eight glissando guitarists at the Gong:Unconvention at the Milky Way club in Amsterdam in November 2006. This DVD is soon to be released as a six-camera shoot spectacularly mixed by Harry Williamson for UK’s Voiceprint label as ‘The Glissando Orchestra/The Seven Initiations of Zero’. These are seven single note glissando guitar based compositions -- each seven minutes in length -- each based on a different note of the C major scale, consciously created to focus the mind and release the intuition. The original seven drones from 1985 have been digitally remastered & are now available as CD or by download from GAS.

Daevid Allen and Planet Gong - www.planetgong.co.uk

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TARIK AND JULIA BANZI; Revising the ancient Andalusian light fantastic.
Since 1986 Tetuan native composer Tarik Banzi and his U.S born wife Julia Banzi, while living in Spain, Morocco and the U.S. have explored the fluid borders and rich legacies of the musics of Andalusia and North Africa. Both on stage and via their CDs “Alchemy”, “Vision”, “Genetic Memories: and “Illumination” as the ensemble known as ‘Al-Andalus’ they have sought the extend the far reaching cosmopolitan musical vision of medieval al-Andalus.
The dynamic and timely results have found them performing with the likes of Paco de Lucia, Yehudi Menuhin and former Santana drummer Michael Shrieve. They as well are former collaborators with the musicians who went on to form Radio Tarifa. Julia Banzi is a musicologist known for her work on the Andalusian Women's Orchestras of Morocco and Spanish Flamenco. Having been based between Spain, the U.S. and Tangier over the last 4 years, they have continued to research and tour internationally, Julia Banzi offers their current perspective on musical matters in the Magreb, and especially on the history and current musical state of Tarik’s home of Tetuan.

DJ: The expulsion of the Moors and the Jews of Spain following 1492, is often cited as when one of the Arabic worlds most influential centers of musical development moved south to the Magreb. It is also generally considered that the rate of internal development of the form, slowed and even perhaps stagnated in the centuries to follow -- Were any of the reasons why the internal development of Andalusian slowed related to less support in the Magreb for secular musics?

JB: Andalusian music in Morocco is generally in this liminal place between the sacred and the secular and even this liminality is in a state of flux.
Andalusian music can be likened to both classical and popular music in the Western world in that: it is seen and used as religious, sacred music in some contexts, it is also seen and used as secular "party" music in other contexts and occasions.

The irony is Andalusian songs sing about wine and women and god--often in the same song.

In al-Andalus (southern SPAIN), Andalusian music was the opulent Court music almost wholly dependent upon royal sponsorship. When Andalusians fled al-Andalus to settle in the Maghreb, they were refugees, struggling to eek out an existence.

In this chaotic, traumatized refugee setting, people were struggling to set up house again... establish cities (such as Tariks hometown Tetuan which was founded by fleeing refugees of Granada, among them his ancestors). There were no longer any courts, royal sponsorship... excess. Music was pretty far down on the list of priorities. As a consequence music slowed and stagnated.

The two main periods when a substantial body of writing on Andalusian music was produced were from the 9th to the 15th centuries and from the 19th and the 20th centuries....The most important documentation of the Andalusian tradition of the Maghreb that followed was a songbook compiled in 1786 by Muhammad ibn Al- Hasan al-Hai'k of Tetuan, Morocco....simply referred to as the al-Hai'k songbook. This songbook is the primary articulation of the Andalusian tradition (Reynolds 2000: 246; Banzi 2002: 10).

Most recently (19th & 20th centuries) performance and transmission of Andalusian music became fostered in state-sponsored conservatories and ensembles dedicated to this distinctive repertoire. Much of this sponsorship was put into place by colonial powers. Realistically, at this point in time, the whole colonial conservatory system is breaking down.

The situation for Andalusian music in Tetuan is quite different from the rest of Morocco. Colonized by Spain and not France (like the rest of Morocco). The Monarchy has long been suspicious of the region’s loyalty to the crown (in no small part because of a strong Rwafa rebel uprising in the 1920's led by the Amazigh [berber] Abd al-Karim al-Khattabbi). There have also been historic ties between western Algeria and northeast Morocco that has been perceived as threatening to the national unity of Morocco. The result is that the north has been, and continues to be the most marginalized regions in the country. Andalusians of Tetuan experience a political and cultural schism from other Moroccan Andalusians.
Tetuani's apart for having the Al-Haik manuscript and being on of the centers in Andalusian music. But because of its low status with the previous monarchy, it received practically no funding, no assistance. This is good and bad.

It maintained a specialized, secular Andalusian music, most noteably Cha'abi, which has been popularized throughout Morocco. Cha'abi receives no state sponsorship whatsoever. Yet research suggests that at least part of the classical Andalusian repertoire is really just Cha'abi songs that were codefied by al-Haik. Both Andalusian and Cha'abi music's were until very recently very alive and vibrant in Tetuan.... its been sort of the last holdout of tradition and innovation.

DJ: Your music seems for one to indicate an embrace of al-Andalus into an expanded cosmopolitan vocabulary. How much of this is indicative of people of your generation in North Africa re-working the form?

JB: Yes, we have taken a very different approach to Andalusian music. Our approach in essence has been “pre-reconquest” and modernity. That is, viewing Andalusian music as it was in the court of King Alfonso. In this setting, ensembles that were themselves composed of musicians creating and playing a repertoire that embraced the three cultures who were themselves of different religious backgrounds. Our music is thus both an artistic and political statement.

I think it is very indicative of Tarik’s generation in Tetuan where people actively lived this concept of the three cultures and the artistic fertility that cross-cultural hybridization can bring about. It is also indicative of my background growing up.

We started the ensemble back in 1988 in Madrid, Spain and later transplanted the group and the concept to the USA. It was on one hand a way to explore and inform our work with early music. The traditional music that we perform is to establish a time period and instrumentation to our audiences. We then take that esthetic and create new music rooted in the past, but which speaks to the present. We have attempted to break down the stagnant baggage that “Andalusian music” has in Morocco and for this reason we dubbed our music “contemporary Andalusian music.” It is an entirely different approach. On another level, the ensemble functioned in a way to serve “justice", that is to educate audiences and actively demonstrate that the three cultures did live in peace at one time. The goal here was to have audiences of all ethnic backgrounds and religions sit together and enjoy the same thing. Not only enjoy it—love it!

DJ: Your music seems for one to indicate an embrace of al-Andalus into an expanded cosmopolitan vocabulary. How much of this is indicative of people of your generation in North Africa re-working the form?

JB: We trace the roots of flamenco in our earliest albums (hence the Indian/Carnatic music). Our music is influenced by Persian esthetics (the founding members in the courts of al-Andalus were Persian (ie. Ziriab). Esthetically we combine the “flamenco bite” with the “classical carress” and bring them together with a “Jazz surprise.. but a little bit savage as well (ha). Then we have Ladino, Andalusian and Cantigas as well as contemporary pieces.

It is very satisfying to create... I think from what we gather from our audiences, they find it satisfying to listen to as well. It’s just...well, different.

History and culture both fascinate us. We are both fairly well educated but a little bit wild and un-orthodox at the same time. Both of us left home at a fairly early age in search of something... and have spent most of our lives living outside our countries of birth. We both come from mixed religious backgrounds. The goal here is to create harmony and balance. I see it as having and raising a child that has the genetic makeup of both parents. Tarik and I have been creating and playing music together for well... over 20 years... I guess we know a little about each other and I think this understanding transmits something to the audience.

Our "justice" work help to spawn a whole movement, in Spain and the US. Now there are “Andalusian” ensembles cropping up all over. This is a good thing. But, the politics of music are something we have found to be very tiresome and at this point, we just want to get back to our job of composing (which is what we do best) and leave the political stuff to other artists who seem to enjoy it.

DJ: Does censorship factor in any way into your music?

JB: In my opinion, the most harmful and hurtful level of censorship occurs on the programming level. Certain artists/ensembles are not included in the program although their work merits a place. This is occurring everywhere worldwide in today’s political climate. Artists in this situation are forced to go independent and create their own performance opportunities and rely on self-sponsorship because festivals and concert series are reluctant to program them. The real forbidden music never makes it to the stage, recording label or radio because those doors have simply been very quietly closed to them.
We have had this happen to our ensemble so many times and in so many countries. I used to get so upset about it. Now I just try to laugh it off and move on. For example, in Morocco it has been nearly impossible for us to work. Up until last year, I applied at all the major festivals in Morocco for four years in a row. I had our agent in New York and another agent from Paris also apply. The same years we were performing at the Institute de Monde Arabe in Paris, the Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, the Smithsonian Center in Washington DC and Centro de Bellas Artes in Madrid yet we are not able to get even one little job in the whole country of Morocco? Given the level of recognition we have, and the cultural context of our music it does not make any sense that we have not been able to work in Morocco. Did we get a nice letter saying “you are banned” ... unfortunately not. We did not get even a rejection letter... All our efforts quite simply fell on deaf ears. The doors had been closed.

You reach a point in life where enough people whose opinions you respect let you know that your musical contributions have merit. You learn about programming and what festivals are presenting and you find your niche. It is then that you realize it is not braggadocios to feel you should be included in certain programs if you make the sustained effort and are a responsible and make it easy for them.

It is an unfortunate reality around the world that many artists such as ourselves have been silently banned by government employees in charge of programming or simply individuals who have unstated political agenda’s which they fulfill through a programs of exclusion and inclusion onto their concert series. This silent censorship is rarely discussed but in my experience it is the most hurtful.

DJ: Paul Bowles when I visited him was very skeptical about the Moroccan government’s capacity to accept the diverse folklore within its own borders. His concerns ranged from; how to properly teach Berber children who did not speak Arabic as a first language, to the government perhaps perceiving non-Arabic or syncretic forms of tribal musics as resistance to Arab domination, or at least an impediment to progress and forming a cogent nation. It seems this has only once in the early 20th century led to an attempted ban on Sufi related brotherhoods, but I'm curious about what you have seen in your lifetime and especially in recent years.

JB: The Sufi brotherhoods are a very powerful underground force in Morocco. I think that even mention of an attempted ban would be met with much resistance. The new monarchy is walking a tightrope with religious fundamentalism. The fundamentalism imported to Morocco is from the East in the form of ultraconservative Shiites. All this black shrouding or head covering business really has no place in Morocco. It is a complex subject when you have imported Shiite customs holding sway in a Sunni country all without the people even knowing that it is going on but instead following it as a sort of fashion statement.

The ultra-conservative manifestations of Islam we have seen in Morocco are largely coming out of Muslim brotherhoods but I don’t really think the Sufi brotherhoods are involved in this way. The Sufi’s tend to be a very different sort of folks.

“Arab’s,” perhaps better said Muslims were/are colonizers in Morocco, just as the French and Spanish are/were colonizers in Morocco. Indigenous Moroccans are the Amazight commonly referred to as “Berber.” Note that “Berber” is a derogatory term stemming from “barbaric.” The more politically correct term is Amazight.

The vast majority of Moroccans are Amazight who speak one or all of the three Amazight languages (Tshalheet, Tmazagheet, Tarrefeet). In addition, the city dwellers often speak Dareja (colloquial Moroccan) as well as Arabic and French and/or Spanish. Amazight have a rich legacy of folk music and dances. The Amazight have until very recently been severely repressed by the previous king. In some ways, this permitted them to hold on to their folkloric music and protect it from outside influences.

The Amazight are a huge force to consider. They are the hidden face of Morocco. I’m not sure of the current numbers but I think they are something like 80% of the country! But they are very definitely the silenced majority. They are a tightly knit community that has tolerated a lot of repression and abuse. A movement is there, but it is still fractured. Schools are emerging; a newspaper is now published in Amazight (though only intellectuals can read it at this point in time... it is still an important step forward).
In some ways (and I am no expert on these things) but I think it may be the Amazight what keep this Shiite religious fundamentalism from gaining more strength in Morocco. The monarchy has to be sure to maintain a delicate balance between religious fundamentalist movements and the Amazight movements. Meanwhile terrible poverty is rampant throughout the country coupled with massive youth population, high illiteracy, poor health care and education. It is a poor country with lots of things to fix — this leads to many disgruntled people.

DJ: Is there any prohibition or way that you see any of the folklore musics of Morocco, being limited by the current state?

JB.: I am in support of preservation of folk traditions. I see the new king’s administration funding folkloric festivals and presenting them on television. I see this as taking a supportive role. The cultural programming largely consists of the diverse, mostly Amazight culture in Morocco. This is very instrumental in promoting Amazight pride and identity.
I think the new king is celebrating the folkloric music’s of the country but everyone needs to “know their place.” That is “ethnic” folklore music of Morocco is being promoted and encouraged as part of the tourist trade. However, in general creativity, mixing and modernization are discouraged. For example, there were some tremendously talented young dancers from Fez-- identical twins. They mixed their folkloric Amazight dances with hip-hop and used to dance in the streets for tips, but got arrested and bullied so much they had to stop. Its heartbreaking to see young talent, ambition, drive and creativity discouraged and destroyed that way.

It is clear that the folklore being supported has to fit into a very narrow, obedient box. The Amazight hip-hop twins for example could not be included into that programming box.

DJ: Has anything changed since Bowle's time in this regard?

JB: Yes, the old king was very repressive of Amazight culture. The new king is much more supportive of it but has limitations.

Tarik and Julia Banzi - www.andalus.com

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Khaled As'ad; A 21st composer building an bridge between East and West
From the Hashemite Kingdom Khaled As’Ad is an Arab composer who sets out to break many stereotypes. Educated in both Western and Arabic classical traditions his compositions seek to as he says “bridge Arabic music in western classical form without breaking the symmetry of the Arabic melody.” Those who attended his premier concert this summer at Prague’s Smetana hall, or have heard his recordings, can hear a composer at work opening doors so others can experience the universal language of music regardless of cultural or religious differences.

DJ: In 1998 it was in the news that the Taliban had banned music in general in Afghanistan, more recently the Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife has been banned in Tunisia, and has been making waves elsewhere. The regulation of music exists in innumerable ways in all cultures and nations. Yet, having lived in Asia, Europe and America, how do you view the similarities and differences in how music is regulated in the Islamic world compared to how it music is controlled and regulated in the West?

KA: To start with, Talban is a political movement that has nothing to do with world cultural activities. Such Islamist movements were created as a reaction of unjust behavior of certain governments against the Islamic ideology. Most of these movements took the extreme doctrines of late and present Islamic schools without further investigation of other opinions, given by late and present Islamic doctrines, regarding the issues of whether music is prohibited totally in Islam or permitted totally or what conditions must be set.

You can read texts such as the doctorial of one of the most prominent Islamic scholars of this time Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. In his doctorial you will see the Islamic basis on this issue of music and it does answer most of the questions related to this subject.

The issue of Marcel Khalifa and his music, has nothing to do with music. it is the political nature of his songs that went against certain régimes in the Middle East, nothing to do with music or tones or any thing of this sort. So this point is very understood.

DJ: Can you please comment and the how Arabic classical music was shaped by the contribution of al-Andalus?

KA: The al-Andalus era I would say was the golden age for Europe and the world as a whole when it came to science, arts, music, etc. That was the bridge that carried all knowledge of the advanced world at that time to Europe.

DJ: I vaguely recall hearing something about the 'closing of the book' or some such phrase, which refers to the an event or event's in the Islamic world following the inquisitions and expulsions of Spain, where much of the world of Islam was said to have become less cosmopolitan and more conservative in outlook. If I remember correctly, this impacted Arabic music and in particular slowed its internal development during this time.

KA: The closing of the books was done prior to the creation of the Ottoman Empire where Muslims for insecure reasons decided to set their doctrines on what was already accomplished and not to advance in elevating their doctrines. As a reflection of this state, not only music slowed but science, medicine and all sorts of advancing in these fields. I believe that was the biggest mistake the Islamic world took and surprisingly this even goes against the teaching of Islam that one should seek knowledge, creativity and to be open to the world.

This was shaped amazingly at that time by forces like the Taliban movement. After the fall of al-Andalus at stages when more Muslims in Spain where focusing on maintaining what was left of the al-Andalus Empire military wise and political wise. There was no stability at late stages of the al-Andalus era. If you don't have stability, then it is hard to focus on the cultural side of things. As Europe picked up the knowledge and became more stable, the renaissance era in Europe started and the Islamic world start falling behind.

DJ: How do you see (if at all) the role of the Sufi tradition as addressing spiritual or emotional needs not expressed via what may have been more sanctioned ways of musical expression in the Islamic world?

KA: The Sufi is a way of understanding Islam from a different angle. Music in Sufi was based on this understanding. Thus music was a reflection of the Sufi methodology. It is really misunderstood that Sufi music was fought in general by more basic Islamic doctrines. It was the doctrines of Sufi that was in a way contradicting with more basic Islamic teachings. One must give a credit to Sufi music despite all of this. That it was the first form of music in Islam to establish a structure and a theory in melodic forms based an ideological aspect.

Khaled As'ad - http://www.asadcultureshock.com