Bab L' Bluz (MAR)

Mansour met French guitarist-producer Brice Bottin. Their shared passion for Gnawa music led them to start playing the guembri together, gradually developing a distinctive musical language that formed the basis of the band’s early repertoire.

Armed with electric guembris, Bab L’ Bluz blends the trance rhythms of Gnawa, the Hassani songs of southern Morocco, and the complex polyrhythms of chaâbi music, while expanding their sound toward psychedelic rock and hypnotic musical worlds. The band is fronted by a woman of Doukkala origin, and the formation embodies a kind of revolution in outlook: as part of Nayda, the cultural renewal movement of Moroccan youth, they represent a generation of artists who draw inspiration from local traditions while conveying a message of freedom in Moroccan Arabic, Darija.

Since its formation, the four-piece band has toured the globe, captivating audiences everywhere with its hypnotic riffs and mystical, liberating energy. Their poetic, powerful, genre-defying music creates an ever-expanding sonic universe.

They burst onto the international music scene in 2020 with their debut album Nayda!, which was included among Mojo magazine’s ten best world music albums of the year, as well as in Songlines’ Best Albums of 2020.

In 2021, Bab L’ Bluz won their first Songlines Music Award, then embarked on a world tour that has continued to grow ever since. Over the years, they have performed in numerous countries across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Oceania, and Asia, bringing their hypnotic and liberating music to audiences worldwide.

Following an almost unbroken stretch of touring, their second album, Swaken, was released in May 2024 and was enthusiastically received by critics. The record’s eleven tracks throb with vibrant energy and invite the listener on a musical journey that is at once stirring, healing, and inspiring.

Today, Bab L’ Bluz continues to evolve and seek new paths. With a sound that is psychedelic and hypnotic yet deeply rooted in Moroccan musical traditions, they captivate audiences all around the world.