Majid Bekkas Trio

Majid Bekkas Trio is the ensemble vehicle of Moroccan musician Majid Bekkas, born in 1957, an internationally known figure in Gnawa-rooted world music and ethno-jazz. Bekkas sings and plays oud, acoustic guitar, and above all the guembri, the three-stringed bass lute that drives the trance of Gnawa music, into which he was initiated by the maalem Ba Houmane. He studied classical guitar at the conservatory in Rabat before fusing Gnawa tradition with jazz and blues. He has collaborated with jazz figures such as Joachim Kuhn and Archie Shepp, and his Magic Spirit Quartet on ACT Music drew wide international acclaim.