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Electric Jalaba

Moroccan Gnawa Funk Dance Fusion

Songlines Encounters Festival

Thu 20 May 2021
Contemporary

Electric Jalaba

Moroccan Gnawa Funk Dance Fusion

Songlines Encounters Festival

Please also see the 6.30pm event for available tickets.

We are pleased to be able to open our doors again and offer you performances in a safe environment. Click here to view some essential safety information about your visit


‘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).

Date:Thu 20 May 2021
Start time:8.30pm (Doors: 8pm)
Venue:Hall Two

Past event

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