![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/master-musicians-of-joujouka-the-moroccan-band-who-wowed-glastonbury/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/130296706_mediaitem130296705.jpg&description=Image source, PA For hundreds of years the Master Musicians of Joujouka have performed in their local village of the same name in northern Morocco, handing down their unique sounds of drums and pipes from generation to generation. But recently they opened the Glastonbury Festival in the south-west of England, one of the world's biggest open-air music events. No-one really knows exactly how old the music is that echoes through the valleys and hills surrounding the village of Joujouka, in the foothills of the Rif mountains. Some research points to the tradition dating back to the 15th Century. "Timothy Leary called it the 4,000-year-old rock 'n' roll band," says Rikki Stein, who helped organise their performances at Glastonbury this year. "It's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but nevertheless it's been passed down from father to son from time immemorial," he tells the BBC. Stein first stumbled upon the Master Musicians of Joujouka in 1971. "I was so blown away by what I found there, that I tore up my return ticket and stayed in the village for a couple of years." By then the musicians had already been discovered by American counter-culturalists Paul Bowles and William Burroughs, as well as British-Canadian artist Bryon Gysin. "I just want to hear that music for the rest of my life," said Gysin, who added that he never let the sun go down without listening to the musicians. Brian Jones, who founded the Rolling Stones, recorded the Master Musicians in 1968. At that time, Bachir Attar was a shepherd boy from the village. He remembers the rock-and-roll legend arriving all those years ago: "When Brian Jones came to the village, my little brother Moustapha came to me and said: 'Somebody come with big hair.' I ran and ran to see my father and I saw the man with big golden hair. I shook his hand and he looked great!" Jones stayed for a night and a day but the music festival lasted for several days. "I don't know if I possess the stamina to endure the incredible, constant s){kind=link}
For hundreds of years the Master Musicians of Joujouka have performed in their local village of the same name in northern Morocco, handing down their unique sounds of drums and pipes from generation to generation.
But recently they opened the Glastonbury Festival in the south-west of England, one of the world’s biggest open-air music events.
No-one really knows exactly how old the music is that echoes through the valleys and hills surrounding the village of Joujouka, in the foothills of the Rif mountains. Some research points to the tradition dating back to the 15th Century.
“Timothy Leary called it the 4,000-year-old rock ‘n’ roll band,” says Rikki Stein, who helped organise their performances at Glastonbury this year.
“It’s probably a bit of an exaggeration, but nevertheless it’s been passed down from father to son from time immemorial,” he tells the BBC.