The world music phenomenon as been central to the diffusion of Gnawa music into the West and into the Web. There are several dimensions to this global movement. The Gnawa, an oral culture, are traditionally in a state of constant adaptation and transformation. As the descendant of slaves they've had to adapt to survive by adapting to their new surroundings. Morocco itself is an incredibly rich and diverse society that brings together a myriad of cultures and traditions such as: Bambara, Arabic, Berber, French, Spanish, English and Jewish, to name a few. It is no surprise then to find that the Gnawa reflect this cultural fluidity. As such, their seemingly loose and improvisational style has attracted the attention of an eclectic array of Western and Afro-Centric musicians who have toured and recorded with many Gnawa. From rock idols like Led Zeppelin to jazz legends like Randy Weston, these influential groups have greatly helped bring forth the Gnawa into the consciousness of the West. And so, a great many sites in the Web are about these musical encounters. At the same time, there are plenty of "traditional" Gnawa groups who figure prominently in the Web. These groups are presented as "traditional" in the sense that they do not appear to attempt to fuse their music with other cultures. Their selling point here is their authenticity. Interestingly, two of the most popular bands related to the Gnawa on the Web are the product of fusion. Hasan Hakmoun who has been living in the U.S. for a decade is a Gnawa who plays mostly with musicians from other traditions, while the French group Gnawa Diffusion, mixes Reggae, Ska, Punk and Gnawa music to great acclaim. These sites thus open up a discussion about our preconceived notions of "tradition", "authenticity" and "modernity".

Dar Gnawa Page: M'alem Abdellah Boulkhair El Gourd is a Master healer Gnawa musician born in 1947 in the Kasbah of Tangier, Morocco.This page is about him and his brotherhood who are primarily known for their association with Jazz legend Randy Weston. This site is full of photographs and cultural information. An essay written by Rober Palmer talks about the need of the Gnawa not just to communicate with the North but also to return to their African roots. This is a fascinating point for it puts in context a chain of relationships. The North looks toward the Gnawa as representatives of an "authentic" oral tradition which might bring them closer to their pre-modern days just as the Gnawa look toward their origins in Sub-Saharan Africa' as a source for their search for tradition, authenticity and connection. This idea demysitifies the Gnawa by showing them to have the scimitar dilemmas as those living in the West. Displacement and Modernity in this context seem to be Universal traits.

Association Sidi Mimoun: The Gnawa Sidi Mimoun of Casablanca, lead by the prestigious m`aalem Sam (Mohammed Zourbat) and Amida (Ahmed Boussou), have played many times abroad, doing performances from the part of their repertoire that precedes the ritual phase. This page is created by Italian ethno-musicologist Antonio Baldassare who is also the "artistic director" of this Gnawa group. This is a fascinating example of a Gnawa group that has created a presence for itself in the Web and across concert hall in Europe with the help of an European. The site has a photo gallery, a few good quality mp3 downloads, and a series of fuzzy jpg files of articles about them. Baldassare is also the producer of what is probably the best collection of field recordings of the famous Gnawa Leila ceremony. The site has a link to an extensive review of these CD's by professor at University of Maryland Baltimore County. In an interesting note, the site says that "In some special occurrence, they have celebrated the Lila, the ecstatic night ritual, for a not-initiate attendance." Is this a confession of having broken certain traditional rules? And what are those rules? The site does not address this issue but it definitively furthers the question raised by the Dar Gnawa Page: is the Gnawa presence on the Web directly linked with a "Western" connection?

Sout Al Ghorba: This page features Karim Alaoui, who learned music and spirituality from his father, the master musician Moulay Hassan of the Casablanca Gnawa. Sout Al Ghorba (translates as "The Sound of Immigrants") is a group Aloui formed in 1999 that has been active in the New York area and the East Coast. The page is part of a larger site for and about self styled Renaissance Woman of the New Millennium, Meg Montgomery. She's a multitalented artist who has befriended Alaoui and invited him, the Moroccan community and anyone interested in the Gnawa to use her loft as a meeting place for Gnawa ceremonies. The site shows Montgomery's commitment to help create a space for the Gnawa that benefits them. Every photograph is credited, there's not much "historical" information, but there's calendar of events which includes an invitation to a Lila in celebration of the end of the holy month of Ramadan. This in itself is a fascinating moment in Gnawa culture.

The Soudani Project: The Sudani project is a Jazz/Gnawa dialogue activated in the collaboration of saxophonist/composer Patrick Brennan, Gnawi M'allim Najib Sudani, and drummer/percussionist/vocalist Nirankar Khalsa. The site is supported by DeepDish Records. This is one of the most thorough and conscienscious sites about the GnawaI have come across in the Web. Not only is it the product of an encounter between East and West but it offers equal amount of information about both. Actually it gives more information about the Soudani family, one of the most respected and established Gnawa lineages in Essaouira. It features an in depth 1993 interview with the now departed M'allin Gubanitaken from the Moroccan Daily Le Matin, great photographs, sound samples and reviews. It also includes an essay by ethnomusicologist Tim Fuson who has spent many years living among the Gnawa. In an interview Patrick Brennan shares his concerns about avoiding the trap of "exploiting" the Gnawa. This is most certainly a well intentioned effort in that direction.

Fils de Gnaoua de Tanger: This is a French language site which translates as "Sons of the Gnawa of Tanger". What makes it special is that it actually originates from Morocco and not from the West. Its creator is part of the Gnawa community. In terms of its design and presentation the site is problematic. The main page is basically four rows of banners advertising a Visa Card, one has to actually scroll in order to find out what this page is all about. This is interesting because it shows the limitations of actually creating a site in Morocco. In order to get free hosting space, this group has to put up with the kind of obnoxious advertising which is none existing in sites that can afford better quality hosting. Beyond the issues of design (distracting "wood paneling" background", difficult to read fonts and poor quality photographs), this site gives information about specific dances and rituals which I have found nowhere else. The site labels these rituals as "spectacles" and illustrates them which what appear to be a series of "staged" photographs. The use of the word "spectacle" is in stark contrast with other sites where the "religious" aspect of the Gnawa is more pronounced. Another interesting use of words is in the "historical" section. The Gnawas are presented as having "emigrated" to Morocco during tribal wars and through the gold and slave trade. The narrative here not quite in line with the one proposed by 99% of all the other sites that I have sampled.

Gnawa Express: Site featuring Abdelmajid Domnati who "founded" the group Gnawa Express Tanger. This site places this group as "performers" of "shows. Their historical context is given by text which says that, "many centuries later and after a migration across Africa there was a development from this origin to choral songs which seemed liturgical. These kinds of songs are typical for the GNAWA who belong to the Sufism." No mention of slavery here but there is mention of Sufism and migration. The group illustrates the elasticity of the term Gnawa by presenting itself as "traditional" (the photos certainly look like it) all the while not necessarily integrating themselves within as tradition of established brotherhoods. It does raise the question: what is a Gnawa?

Abdenbi Binizi - Gnawa: From the site: "Abdenbi is a contemporary of the most well known Gnawa in the west, Hassan Hakmoun. In fact, the two came to the US together in 1987. Hassan remained in NY and hit the big time. Abdenbi returned to Morocco. Although virtually unknown by name he has been recorded for many compilation CDs by music producers such as Bill Laswell. he has played at music festivals in Europe in and the US." One single page about a Gnawa made by a Westerner who befriended him. The site's mission is to help and further the career if Abdenbi. The site asks for contributions about the Gnawa but does not appear to have progresses much since its creation. In many ways Abdenbi and the site remain a mystery. A good example of a website that tries to be proactive in furthering inter-cultural communication but does not appear to succeed.

Tasili: Official page of the African Musician Union of Norway.It features a group called Tasili. The sites says that the name "Tasili" derives from "an ancient culture that existed in the Sahara region six thousand years before our present time scale. Represented today by the rock paintings in the Tasili plateau in southern Algeria.The music is based on Aissa Tobi's Gnawa tradition." Aissa, who is a vocalist and instrumentalist, is presented as being originally from Morocco and has been a professional musician since the age of eleven. Tasili's combines Gnawa, spanic-arabic regaãdaã. Rai and chaãbi. It's interesting to note here that the Gnawa are presented within a wider historical context. There is no mention of slavery and migration but rather of a 6,000 year-old tradition. How one can trace this tradition and believe the accuracy of this statement is not addressed by the site.

Nass Marrakech: This page is part of a larger site hosted by "World Music" billed as the first talent and management agency dedicated to world music. Nass Marakech was formed in 1991, to "investigate the traditions of the Gnawa, the Central Africans who were brought to the Mahgreb in the Middle Ages, to look for the memories of the old in the forgotten words of their songs (many in old Central African Languages) and also to write new songs with respect to the color and rhythm of the Gnawa, reflecting the experiences of today." This group comprised of various Moroccans with ties to the Gnawa community and musicians from other tradition is based out of Barcelona. This site offers both Mp3's and videos from their concerts. Nass Marrakech is often called part of the "new generation" of Gnawas and they certainly illustrate many of the dilemnas faced by the Gnawa community (and Moroccan society) today: migration, identity, tradition. How can Nass Marrakech and an established brotherhood in Morrocoo be called Gnawas? Has the term Gnawa ever been specific? No answers can be found on this site, though it has a link to an academic paper written by professor Chouki el Hamel which gives what appears to be a sound historical interpretation of the Gnawas history.

Le Groupe Gnaoua " Bilal " de Rabat - Maroc : Great little site about a young group of Gnawa who have just completed their first tour outside Morocco. There is not much historical information but they do write a statement about "fusing" their Berber traditions and continuing the tradition taught by their parents. They connect themselves, as many Gnawas do, with Bilal, a freed slave and the first Muezzin of the Prophet Muhammed. There is also nice photo gallery from their performances.

El Karam: Homepage of fusion group out of Toulouse, France. They present themselves as perpetuating the ancestral music brought by African slaves to Morocco. At the same time they situate themselves within the recent fusion of traditional Gnawa music and other African rhythms.The site invites you to enter a "trance" with the group and talks about a "Gnawa atmosphere". The site has mp3 downloads and some photos. It also features a message board which is interesting because it gives you an insight into what young cybersurfers (I assume they're young because of their use of French slang) are thinking about and how they view the Gnawa Culture. A few of them discuss them "deterioration" of the Gnawa music Festival and the loss of "beauty" and "rhythms" due to recent "changes in Gnawa music. Comments regarding the tensions created by the recent Gnawa world music explosion are rare on the web.

Tyour Gnaoua: This is a site promoting a tour by African musician Ray Lema tour with the Gnawa group Tyour Gnaoua. This group positions itself within the "new Gnawa generation" that is trying to experiment with new sounds. At the same time they refer themselves as coming from the mythic city of "Mogador". Mogador is the Portuguese name of Essaouira, one of the great Gnawa centers in Morocco. The use of the "tradition" attached to a newly formed band perfectly illustrates the dynamics behind Gnawa culture in general.

SoundWorld: Mâalem Mahjoub Khalmous is referred here as one of the "great master Gnawa musicians of today." This site is produced by a little record label which represents him. There's quite a lot of information regarding the group's credentials as performers across Europe. It's interesting here that the emphasis is on their collaborations with Western Artists rather than their position in Moroccan society. It points to a trend which equates prestige with having performed abroad.

Mogador, Gnawa all-stars:"Imagine traditional Moroccan music that is mixed with jazz, groove and world music, and you will start to have an idea of the music of Mogador," reads the website. This site produced by John-John Records offers many musical downloads and a special page dedicated to a cultural history of the Gnawa. I'm not sure how ironic is their use of the term "all-stars"...

Hassan Hakmoun: Probably the most renowned Gnawa in the world. His story is one of migration and movement toward the West. He now lives in Los Angeles, Ca.

Hassan Hakmoun and the Islamic World of Chants web site which represents a fairly typical take on Gnawa music: exotic and "star" driven

Gnawa Diffusion: Probably the most renowned Gnawa influenced group in Europe.