Dating back to pre-Islam Morocco, Gnawa music is one of the country's oldest and richest continuous traditions, linked to an ancient healing ritual. From this musical history comes Innov Gnawa, formed in New York in 2014 by Moroccan expat Samir LanGus and led by Mâalem Hassan Ben Jaâfer. Accompanied by a band of five, he leads his ensemble with the traditional guembri, a three-stringed, skin-covered sintir. At Big Ears Festival, Innov Gnawa entranced the audience with a hypnotic rhythmic, percussive instrumentation and the pulsating drone that escapes from the sintir’s vibrating bass string.
