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The Gnoua Brotherhood

Chris Campion, The Wire, March 1996

ALIGHTING FROM the famed Marrakech Express, Frank Rynne, Joe Ambrose and myself were hustled into an illegal taxi. It careered along Boulevard Mohamed V, the main arterial route through Marrakech, stopping only at the beckon of the police and to unceremoniously dump us behind the largest and oldest Mosque in the city, beyond which is the Place Djemma El Fna, the Place of the Mosque at The End of the World – the spiritual and musical heart of Marrakech. It was there that we spent seven nights and days in the company of a group of Sufi street musicians the Gnoua Brotherhood of Marrakech.

Total word count of piece: 1197

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