In September 1998, the three traditional Gnawa musicians Abdenbi Binizi, Samir Zgarhi and Majid Karadi from Gnawa Halwa, managed by Philippe Massy (Strasbourg), came to Berlin and met the multi-instrumentalists JayC and David Beck. During three intensive weeks, they lived and played together and made a number of recordings. A few months and Morocco journeys later David and JayC mixed down the "Living Remixes"'. Some new vibes came out and the alchemy gave birth to twelve new tracks. These recordings a mixture from Reggae, Breakbeatz, Pop, Dub and Rock are also combined with Indian or Australian feelings. On the 12th of October 2001 Gnawa Impulse gave its first concert in Kulturbrauerei in Berlin and the audience was conquered…

The berlin's musicians :
David Beck: Acoustic & electric guitars
He has been playing guitar since 1978 and approached various styles. He had also explored other instruments (drums, string instruments) and has composed for theatre, circus (Ufa Fabrik Shows) and Television (ZDF), he was the guitarist of the famous Berlin band Luchten (Funk Metal Jazz - German winner of Yamaha Band Explosion 1992 - three CDs - Concerts in Germany, Japan, France). He plays and composes with several bands from the world music and club scene of Berlin: Mandala, Peshkar and Culture Clash.
Jan Rase: bansuri, key & programming. Since 1989, he lives from his music as a saxophonist and keyboards player. He played in several jazz and pop bands and brought the lively jazzy touch to the Luchten band. He worked as a studio musician (Mellowbag, Seeed, Genetics Drugs/ Asian Breakbeats) and as producer for theatre and movie soundtracks. More recently, he has travelled a lot in India and began to play Bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) (Peshkar).
Stefan Hauser: Drums. S. Hauser was studying drums in Vienna at AIM (American Institute of Music) and at the Hans Eisler School in Berlin. He is very many-sided and his styles are: fusion, latin, jazz, pop and hip hop.Stefan Hauser was playing with Saft, Gom Jabbar, Yulara ,Kord and many more. At the moment he is the drummer of Poolstar and Gnawa Impulse

The gnawa musicians :Gnawa Halwa
Abdenbi Binizi (Marrakech / Maroc) solo voice, karkabas and drum
Majid Karadi (Marrakech / Maroc) voice, karkabas (Metal- Castagnettes) and dance
Kamal Ifir (Marrakech / Maroc) voice, sintir (three -sided nature- bass) and dance
Samir Zgarhi (Marrakech / Maroc) voice, sintir
The four musicians come from the Gnawa brotherhood whose mythical origins are situated in Sudan and Mali. There are several thousand adepts in Morocco, mainly in Marrakech. Their ritual practices are based on the music and trance developed during nightly ceremonies - the "Lilas". For the adepts, the trance often plays as a therapeutic, liberating and social role. The tradition is transmitted orally and musically from "Maallem (master) to "Maallem" in families which are often from slave origin. Abdenbi, Majid and Samir were all born and live in Marrakech. Their lives centre around their traditional brotherhood and around worldwide tours to popular festivals. Accustomed to elaborate work as demanded by contemporary dance, they are complete artists who are professional by European standards (collaboration with Randy Weston, Blanca Li, Bill Laswell, Gnawa Diffusion).

Recordings made on CD's UND SAMPLERS from Moroccan Music, which have been released since 1987. The most important are:
"Gnawa Night Spirit Masters" (Bill Laswell - Island 1990)
"Rhabaouine" - Gnawa Halwa (Blanca Li Records 1994).
"Living Remixes" - Gnawa Impulse (GIP Music 2002)

CONCERTS GNAWA IMPULSE :
12/10/01 : Kulturbrauerei - Berlin/G
05 et 06/07/02 : Tanz &Folkfestival - Rudolstadt/G
12/07/02 : Die Fabrik - Hamburg/G
02/08/02 : Festival Pop d'europe - Berlin/G
16/08/02 : Odysee der Kulturen - Mülheim /Ruhr /G
17/08/02 : Odysee der Kulturen - Recklinghausen/G
18/08/02 : Odysee der Kulturen - Bochum/G
10/10/02 : Dunya Festival - Rotterdam /NL
26/10/02 : Showcase WOMEX 2002 - Essen/G

Contacts :
Management, Label :
GIP Music : Philippe Massy
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 22 17 34 -
E mail: phimassy@noos.fr

Tour Manager, concert (France)
Patrick " Milou " Djian
- c/o TCHOOKAR
Ggrenoble
tel : +33 (0)6 08 54 60 71
E mail: miloutour@hotmail.com

Concert Germany, Switzerland, Austria:
Cross Culture Music-Berlin
Tèl: 00 49 30 623 95 25
E mail: info@cross-culture-music.de
Marc Miethe Anna Meyer

Sounds to download under: www.cross-culture-music.de