Please note that this is a standing event. Please call the Box Office on 020 7520 1490 or email info@kingsplace.co.uk to discuss your access requirements.
‘Inexhaustible energy, moments of soulful calm and pinnacles of ecstatic mayhem, plus some dance moves, I’ve definitely never seen before.’ Rhythm Passport
Championed by Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6), Electric Jalaba takes Moroccan Gnawa music into contemporary new territories while maintaining a respect for its spiritual roots.
At its heart are the ecstatic vocals of gimbri player Simo Lagnawi with the four Keen brothers, Henry, Oliver, Barnaby and Nathaniel, on guitars and electronics with Dave De Rose on drums.
Deep grooves with incandescent fire.
Please note, the original date for this event was Friday 29 May 2020. Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, this event had to be postponed. Read our full statement.
Electric Jalaba formed in the summer of 2011, when the members of Afro-electronic production project Soundspecies (BurntProgress, Manana Cuba) met UK based, Moroccan Gnawa master musician Simo Lagnawi (Waulk Music) at a festival. After a handful of exploratory jam sessions and a traditional Gnawa ‘Lila’ ceremony to bless the project and without ever having performed together in public, they booked two days in a studio to document their experimentations. From the music created that weekend it was clear that they were on to something special, not just a one-off collaboration. It formed the basis of an electrifying live set that over the course of a year propelled Electric Jalaba to become one of London’s in demand live acts. They have played at many of the biggest festivals in the UK and Europe, including Bestival, Latitude and Wilderness, and they also had the honour of taking the project back to the home of Gnawa music, performing at Mawazine festival 2015 in Rabat (Morocco).