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Gnawa events in Zurich this weekend - Friday and Saturday nights. Updated daily.
No Gnawa events this weekend in Zurich.
Sound profile
A danceable, vocal-driven sound.
Gnawa is a spiritual and rhythmic music genre originating from Morocco, rooted in the ancestral traditions of enslaved Sub-Saharan West Africans. Central to its sound is the three-stringed sintir or guembri lute, providing deep, percussive bass lines accompanied by the metallic, clattering rhythms of qraqeb castanets. Characterized by hypnotic, repetitive cycles and call-and-response vocals, the music typically serves a ritualistic purpose to induce healing trances during ceremonies known as lila. While traditionally sacred, Gnawa has evolved into a significant global influence, sharing profound semantic links with the blues and jazz through its structural focus on syncopation and soulful expression within its traditional context.
Also known as: Gnaoua
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