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Press Release: Master Musicians of Joujouka
Moroccan Village of Joujouka honours Rolling Stone Founder Brian Jones in 40th Anniversary Festival.
Event: Brian Jones 40th Anniversary Festival
Date: 29 JULY 2008
Place: Joujouka, Morocco
Tickets and Booking http://www.joujouka.net/
To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones's visit to their village, Morocco's most renowned Sufi trance Masters, The Master Musicians of Joujouka, are staging a music festival in his honour on 29 July, in Joujouka, Morocco.
Background
Joujouka is a tiny village in the southern Rif Mountains of Morocco founded by the 8th century Sufi mystic Sidi Ahmed Scheich. It is famous for its Sufi trance music, its connections with the Beat Generation and the Rolling Stones, and its annual celebration of the God Pan.
On 29th July 1968, following in the footsteps of William Burroughs, Robert Palmer and Paul Bowles; Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones and recording engineer George Chkiantz visited Joujouka with Brion Gysin and Mohamed Hamri to record an album with the Master Musicians. Jones spent much of his last year mixing and producing the Joujouka tapes and preparing the cover art. He died on 7 July 1969. The resulting LP "Brian Jones presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka" was the first release on Rolling Stones Records in 1971. In 2006 Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins took time out from recording Zeitgeist to visit the village and experience the music.
The Rites of Pan/ Boujeloud
In Joujouka the villagers still perform the ancient Rites of Pan. A boy sewn in goat skins dances wildly to the music of the Masters. This music and festival is called Boujeloud, or the Father of Skins in Joujouka. It is a fertility rite directly related to the ancient worship of the God Pan. Pan was evoked in the springtime to ensure the fertility of both the crops and the people. The people of Joujouka have kept this ancient tradition alive. The evening and night will be devoted to the healing trance music of Joujouka. There will be a full performance of the Boujeloud Rite in honour of Brian Jones. The Master Musicians of Joujouka 2006 CD Boujeloud features various variations on the ritual music associated with Pan.
Brain Jones Joujouka very Stoned
In his short stay in Joujouka Brian Jones made a big impression on the musicians. To this day the song "Brian Jones Joujouka very Stoned" sung in English and Arabic, is a standard at all ceremonies and celebrations in the village.
40th Anniversary Festival.
To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Brian Jones's visit to their village the Master Musicians of Joujouka are staging a festival to honour Brian Jones memory and his efforts to raise them and their fathers out of poverty.
Guests will be transported to the village from the nearest town Ksar El Kebir. They will stay in the village in traditional Joujouka houses with musicians and their families. In the afternoon there will be a visit to the 8th century sanctuary of Joujouka's patron saint Sidi Ahmed Schiech and to the cave of Pan/Boujeloud.
This is an once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience a day and night in Joujouka as guests of the Master Musicians of Joujouka and their families in their mountain village.
Master Musician of Joujouka Ahmed Attar recalls Jones' visit in 1968 "I was a twelve years old learning drumming with my father and the Mallims (Masters) when Brian Jones came. Brian Jones was very good. My father played rhiata with and for him and I danced and played my drum. He came with Hamri and Brion Gysin. He had long hair and he rubbed my head. He brought a lot to Joujouka. Besef Baraka. We will mark the 40th Anniversary of his visit here in Joujouka to honour Brian Jones and to let people come to Joujouka and see what it is like here for themselves. It is good to feel the Baraka (Blessings) of Sidi Ahmed Scheich. Joujouka is his country. He is the Cultivator with Lions and Healer of Crazy Minds."
Food and Board
Full board will be provided: lunch on arrival on the 29th, a celebratory feast in the evening including charcoal roasted whole sheep and a wide variety of mountain dishes including many vegetarian specialities. Traditional breakfast will be provided on the morning of the 30th. All the dishes will be prepared by the villagers and will be traditional Moroccan fare for a celebratory feast.
Frank Rynne, co-organiser of the Festival, has produced three CDs of Master Musicians of Joujouka and also their 1996 collaboration with Marianne Faithfull "My Only Friend"(10%:file under Burroughs, Sub Rosa Records). He has visited and recorded for extended periods in the village since 1994. He enthuses "I first met the musicians in 1992 when I curated a William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin art show. It is great that the musicians have decided to celebrate Brian Jones life and work. As well as giving people an opportunity to hear their music as it should be heard, in the open air on their mountain."
