Hassan Hakmoun
| Hassan Hakmoun | |
|---|---|
 Hassan Hakmoun during Jam Night at the Ottawa Jazz Festival 2003. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | حسن حكمون |
| Born | 1963 |
| Origin | Marrakech, Morocco |
| Genres | World fusion Gnawa music |
| Occupations | musician |
| Instruments | castanets vocals sintir |
| Years active | 1980's - present |
| Website | http://www.hassanhakmoun.com/ |
Hassan Hakmoun (Arabic: حسن حكمون) (b. 1963 in Marrakech) is a Los Angeles-based Moroccan Gnawa musician.
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[edit] Early life
Hakmoun was born to a family of musicians[1] who introduced him to the musical world of the Gnawa. By age four, he performed alongside snake charmers and fire-breathers on Marrakech streets. His mother is known throughout the city as a mystic healer. At the age of fourteen he left school to concentrate on music.[2]
[edit] Career
Hakmoun's U.S. debut was in 1987 at Lincoln Center with the band Trio Gna & Nomadas Dance Group.[1] He later resided in New York City before moving to Los Angeles. The composer and producer Richard Horowitz helped Hakmoun to adapt to his new life.
In 1993, Peter Gabriel introduced him to Real World Records, where he would release his Trance album produced by Simon Emmerson. All this influenced Hakmoun's Gnawa music by fusing it with new styles such as Jazz and psychedelic music. He also performed alongside musicians such as Paula Cole, Don Cherry and Jamshied Sharifi.
One year later, in 1994, he performed at WOMAD'94 tour and Woodstock '94 along with Peter Gabriel.
In August 2008, he performed at the American Folk Festival in Bangor, Maine. He was married to Paula Cole until the couple divorced in 2007. His mom was a practitioner of black magic which involves sacrificing goats, chickens, and wearing different colors for spiritual dances. Gnawa music was the Moroccan slaves music. Slaves were allowed one night of freedom a year, to dance and play music, they wore red and other colors like black or purple. Each color and music was a spiritual communication with spirits. They practiced black magic seeking supernatural powers to free themselves, put curse or try to heal. Lyrics used are a repetition of Allah instead of African spirits. It's like chanting Voodoo or Santeria. The night of music is usually tense with dancing, passing out, pretending to be empowered by spirits.
[edit] Discography
- Gift of the Gnawa featuring Don Cherry & Adam Rudolph (September 1992) - Flying Fish Records
- Trance (November 1993) - Real World Records/Virgin Records
- Fire Within (August 1995)
- Black Mud Sound (November 1995) with Cornelius Claudio Kreusch
- Life Around the World (Alula Records, June 1999)
[edit] References
- ^ a b The gnawa-globetrotter - culturebase.net
- ^ Biography of Hassan Hakmoun - worldmusiccentral.org
