Sultan Gnawa Mixes Genres in Dreamlike Algiers Concert

The young singer Sultan Gnawa animated, Thursday evening in Algiers, a concert conceived in a mixture of genres, which combined Diwane music with African rhythms and sounds, Pop Music, rock and other contemporary genres.

Hosted at the Ibn Khaldoun hall, the show, which lasted almost an hour and a half, invited the public, few in number, to a dreamlike journey made up of an anthology of pieces with content rooted in diwane music and the form open to the modernity of World Music.

A dozen pieces taken from Djawla fi Ifrikiya, Sultan Gnawa’s first album, released in 2023 by Ostwana editions, delighted the audience who took advantage of this great opportunity, organized by the Arts and Culture Establishment, as part of its cultural and artistic activities coinciding with the African Cup of Nations for under-17 footballers.

Supported by six virtuoso musicians, the young singer performed with a present and rich voice the pieces, Istijhbar, Fi wast Ed’lam, Soudan Ya yema, Mayno, Sallou aâla Nabina, Badawiya, Wed Chouli, Rabbi Laâfou, Kan ya makan, N’set, Ghomari, Esprit de Mira and Fou fou Danba, to the delight of the few spectators present, who quickly gave in to swaying their hips. Travel companion and manager of Sultan Gnawa, Habib Bendjelida (Habib Ben-J), on bendir and karkabous, outdid himself interacting with the public, as did Hamadouche Nabil Kaddour Bouazzi on keyboard, Hichem Yammi on guitar, Anis Beddiar on drums, Mohamed Amine Mallek on bass and Abdellah Fodil Benlaoukli on darbouka and percussion as well. The flavors of an indigenous genre, with universal tendencies, magnified by Algerian lyrics and melodies from the abundant creativity of Sultan Gnawa (on goumbri and percussion), such is the proposed cocktail, whose titles have been arranged by Hichem Yammi and Habib Ben-J. “From Algerian music, I try to merge other genres to connect our ancestral heritage, so rich and varied, with that of Africa and other contemporary music,” explains the singer from Oran.

Paying homage to Maâlem Benaïssa Bahaz (1965-2008), Sultan Gnawa who interacted for a long time with the public, inviting them to repeat each refrain, was called back at the end of the show to sing one more last title under the sustained applause of assistance and in a friendly atmosphere. Diwan in Algeria, this kind of bewitching music, which is accompanied by rites, knows other names in other countries, such as taknawit, gnawi, or even stambali.