B'Net Marrakech

Malika, the dancer and lead singer with B'net Marrakech, appears onstage with a metal tea tray. It's full of flowers and lit candles. As the music plays behind her - Azziz on violin, Halima and the two Fatimas on percussion, she takes two lit candles and puts them in her mouth, bringing them out still lit. She places the candles between her toes and dances. Leaving them there, the tea tray goes on her head and she continues to move. It's impossible to take your eyes off her. The music speeds up, she goes faster, until finally she removes the tray, takes the candles, and extinguishes them in her mouth. And you realize that you've hardly breathed in the last three minutes.

B'net Marrakech are a group of five women from, curiously enough, Marrakech in Morocco (the names translates as The Women of Marrakech). For those of a certain age, the mere mention of the country may trigger Sixties flashbacks, but it's a place of ancient musical traditions, where Berber and Arabic meets, where you can hear the sounds of spiritual gnawa music, the streetwise chaabi semi-pop, and even Algerian rai that's crossed the border. All of that is mixed up in the sound of this band, in an aural and visual feast. "It's a mixture of original and traditional music, and we sing in Berber and Arabic," the band explain. At home we play for weddings, for births - for everything really!"

"We're women who love the night time. Something to smoke, something to drink, and we can play for hours."

The only instrumentalist in the Western sense of the idea is Azziz. "Azziz writes some songs, and plays oud, violin, and gabsa - she plays, many, many instruments. Our music in influenced by gnawa music, by rai, by chaabi." She, along with Halima, the front woman, is the leader - "We say they're like pepper and salt," the women laugh. "And the rest of us are spice, chili and so on..." And they also play some true gnawa music, which, as they manager says, takes some guts. "Gnawa music is only for men, and it takes a lot of courage to break that taboo." All over the world these days, women are breaking taboos. In Islamic countries, however, it takes a special strength to do that. And while Morocco is relatively easygoing in that regard, it's never easy. But they manage.

And they've been managing for a few years now. As B'net Marrakech they've been in existence for a couple of years (before that they went under another name), and earning a reputation outside their homeland. They've played (and won) the showcase at Womex, traveled to many of the European festivals, and won a number of fans. The only thing missing from the picture is a CD, and even that will be remedied soon. They've already recorded, in Belgium, and the disc should become available in October. While Europe demands shorter sets, they prefer to have the chance to stretch out, and reach a trance state in the music and dancing. "We're women who love the night time. Something to smoke, something to drink, and we can play for hours." Just not always with tea trays...

B'Net Marrakech

"We're women who love the night time. Something to smoke, something to drink, and we can play for hours."

Related Articles in the 'African Artists' Category...