Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival 2017

It's been five years since my wife, Maggie Knutson, and I were last in Essaouira for its world-renowned Gnaoua and World Music Festival, but this year we were back again, to enjoy and record the music that we both love so much. We had high expectations for this year's event - Band of Gnawa and Maalem Abdeslam Alikane with Ray Lema, both on the bill again after 10 years - and we weren't disappointed.

I'll leave it to Maggie to provide all of the little details that she's so good at capturing in words - you can read the first of her multi-part blog entry here. I'll use his blog to share the videos and photos that I took.

We've been attending the festival since 2000, but I only started recording the music in 2007, after I found that I needed a way to preserve the unique music that had filled my head for the four days of the festival, but the memory of which decayed in the days and weeks after I'd returned home. I started with a Zoom digital audio recorded and an ATR shotgun microphone, and captured much of what, in my opinion, was the best festival ever. You can listen to those recordings here. Note that while they are YouTube videos, they are audio only.

The next year I came better prepared with a Panasonic GS1  camcorder that worked really well and produced pretty good 720p videos, though being tape-based it meant my luggage was full of blank tapes and spare batteries and chargers. All of my videos from 2008 to 2012 were taken using my GS1, though I added a Rode M3 mic in 2012.

This year, however, I decided to upgrade my camera and bought a fully digital Panasonic HC-V770, which with a 128GB class 10 SD card can record up to 6 hours - enough for a good days shooting. I was able to back each day's videos directly from the camera to a 480 GB SanDisk Extreme 500 solid-state hard drive, so I has plenty of space. If you wonder why I need so much space, the V770 records MP4 videos at 50Mb per second - about 22GB each hour. The V770 battery life is about 90 minutes, so instead of buying loads of spare batteries at £120 each, I bought a £30 Gomadic portable USB power pack which lasts about 6 hours, and can also charge my iPhone. Oh yes, this camera can also take pretty good still photographs while simultaneously shooting movies, as you can see when the Flickr slideshow below kicks off in a few seconds:





In 2010, the festival organisers wrote to me suggesting I apply for press accreditation, which that year, and the next two years, we received, along with the precious Camera logo which gets you into the press pit right at the front of the stage!

In past years, I had always recorded gonzo-style - right in with the main audience, or from our private balcony at Hotel L'Heure Bleu (rooms 24/34) overlooking Place Bab Marrakech, until 2011 one of the main festival venues, or from Restaurant Bab Lachour, overlooking the Place Moulay Hassan stage. Both of these approaches have their drawbacks. Gonzo puts you at the mercy of the audience, which results in shaky video and voices over the music. Audio recording at distance from the balconies adds a phasing effect from the ever-present wind.

But in the photographers' pit you are so close and you get the real sound of the instruments as well as that from the on-stage monitors - not just the big PA. Fantastic, and such an experience being so close to the musicians and dancers.

This year, however, it wasn't to be. I'd applied for Maggie and myself in good time but heard nothing until a week before the festival, when we received rejection letters; the reason given was that we didn't have official press passes. When we spoke to one of the team in Essaouira, we were told that since so many applications had been made for this, the 20th, festival, they'd needed some simple criterion to winnow out the chaff. So that's what we were: chaff. Over 1 million views on my YouTube channel counted for nothing. But I'm not bitter. There's always next year.

All was not lost, though. On the Thursday that the festival was due to start, I spotted Loy Ehrlich from Band of Gnawa in the street, introduced myself, and gave him a CD of the BoG set I'd recorded in 2007, along with a few others. He immediately dug into his bag and gave me a VIP pass - not for the press pit - but almost as good. Not only that, but when he saw me later that night, he gave Maggie one too. So, a big thank you to Loy Ehrlich. A great musician with a heart of gold.

Enough of the talk. How about some music. Speaking of Loy Ehrlich, let's start with the playlist of the Band of Gnawa set. This starts with three numbers from Maalem Said Boulhimas, before BoG join in. You can click the playlist icon at the top left of the video to select a different video.




The highlight of the festival, for me, Maggie, and some other people I spoke to was the Titi Robin set at Place Moulay Hassan on Saturday night. Titi Robin (guitar and electric mandolin) was joined by Mehdi Nassouli (guembri and vocals), Shuheb Hasan (Sufi vocals), Murad Ali Khan (sarangi), and Ze Luis Nascimento (hand drums) delivering a wonderfully melodic fusion of  the music of four continents. You can get some sense of the experience in the video playlist below. Note that a couple of the tracks have a pronounced bass distortion (my bad) but I believe that the music still shines through. If you like this music, you may want to buy the CD Taziri, featuring Robin, Nassouli, and Nasciemento, available on Amazon here.



At the end of the Titi Robin set Maggie and I headed over to La Plage venue, by way of Sam's Fish 
Restaurant to see  Maalem Abdeslam Alikane and Ray Lema. When we arrived, Speed Caravan were still playing and I managed to video their last three numbers, including one with the wonderful, and new to me, Hindi Zahra. Here's that playlist:


As for the Alikane/Lema set, I was told to stop filming with my V770 after the first number, but I managed to capture most of the other numbers on my iPhone SE (with a Rode VideoMicro mic) or on my Zoom H2 audio recorder which was tucked in an inside jacket pocket. Consequnetly, the video quality isn't great so I have't got a separate playlist for this set yet, but you can find a couple of the videos in my Essaouira 2017 playlist, along with Maâlem Abdelkebir Merchane, Carlinhos Brown, some street music, and a couple of walks. 28 videos in total, with more to come, including more from Alikane/Lema. If you subscribe to the playlist or the channel on YouTube, you'll get notified when I add more.

#SOBERCOLLECTIVE at Original Dampkring Gallery

If you're in Amsterdam before 6 December, you should take the time to visit the #SOBERCOLLECTIVE exhibition at the new Original Dampkring Gallery (of certain repute). The chameleon is iconic, marrying the photo-realistic colouring of the Telmoniel artists with the algorithmic precision and dexterity of the Sober Industries team. The combination of 2D and 3D in some of the pieces works really well, giving the impression of an outside/inside view of the same subject.

The huge cat appears to stalk the room. The hand, in Vulcan pose, suddenly appears other-worldly. The 'wheel thing' is hand-drawn, and, like the other paper sculptures, laser-cut. I wish that I'd taken a closeup The chameleon is probably my favourite piece - not surprisingly, it's the one featured on the promotional material for the exhibition. The crab runs a close second, maybe because of my birthday - I'm a Cancer.

These are my photographs from the Sober Industries & Telmoniel / #SOBERCOLLECTIVE exhibition - 16 October to 6 December 2015 at the Original Dampkring Gallery at Singel 395, Amsterdam, Netherlands, but copyright remains with the artists.

Here's a link to these higher-definition images on Flickr. The slideshow will be revealed in a few seconds. I've also uploaded them to Slideshare here.

#Sobercollective from John Knutson

Below you'll find embedded my Facebook photo gallery of the event

Photographs from the Sober Industries & Telmoniel / #SOBERCOLLECTIVE exhibition - 16 October to 6 December 2015 at the Original Dampkring Gallery at Singel 395, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Posted by John Knutson on Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Morocco 1972

Here are some photographs that I took on my first trip to Morocco in the summer of 1972.

Heading up to Ketama in the Rif mountains

Crops in the Rif

Crops in the Rif

Djemma El Fna, Marrakech

Cindy with her VW bus, campsite, Marrakech

Cindy, Marrakech

Man in djellabah, Marrakech

Koutoubia, Marrakech

Water sellers, Djemma El Fna, Marrakech

Diabet

Sunset, Diabet

Photographs taken with Zenith E using Kodacolor-X film.

IBM Social Media Aggregator

This post shows an example of embedding widgets from the IBM Social Media Aggregator.

Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival 2013

I saw yesterday that they have posted the line-up for this year's Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/programme2013  and the festival's site is here: http://www.festival-gnaoua.net/en/

Maggie and I won't be going this year. This will be the first one we've missed since I started recording in 2007. In fact the last one we missed was in 2004. This year's line-up looks pretty traditional with surprisingly few sub-Saharan artists, apart of course from the wonderful Yousou N'Dour, who'll be performing at Scene Meditel on the Saturday.

It was a short clip I took of Yousou N'Dour when he last played there in 2005 that made me start recording and then filming in the first place. We'll be very sorry to miss him this year, but we can always look back on this:

That was when Place Bab Marrakech was stil being used. It was a great venue. We were staying in the Hotel L'Heure Bleu, it might have been our first time there and we didn't get the suite with the balcony overlooking the stage until 2007. I took the video above from the roof of the hotel using a little Sony Sureshot - just thought about it just before the end - and didn't post it until 2007 when I started recording audio. 2007, that was a truly great year - perhaps the best since we first went in 1999 or 2000.

Blogger good at stopping spam comments

Update 8 June 2013 Oh you guys! You just couldn't stop, could you? Numerous spam per day, and some getting throuhg to the page. So, I've decided to add an extra step when posting comments - see if the spambots can figure that out. I originally built this page a couple of months ago when I'd got fed up with checking my Comments folder to make sure Blogspot's spam filter was coping with the increasing number of spam comments. I had decided to switch on comment moderation, but I felt that would make life harder for people with real comments. However  since the spam filter catches most of them, I decided to put them to good use and write this post to show the world how insidious this sort of comment is. I lost that original post due to a mix-up with the Revert to Draft button, but decided to bring it back to life today. They all have a number of things in common: They are very complimentary - both of the post and the writer - so you want them to be real They are very general - they could apply to almost any post so appear to be real They often appear to be quite well written - so you think they must be real They always point to another web site that is unrelated to your post - often gamling, drugs, holidays, adult sites etc The same comments have often been added to many other blogs - often too many to be real As an example of the last bullet,  I did a Google search for the following text string  found in one of the spam comments. "I'm assuming    having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?" was found over 10 million times. Why not try it for yourself with this link? So, all you bloggers out there who accept these comments, don't believe everything your readers say, they probably aren't real.  Here's what I've collected so far. Most have come in this year. I get pleasure from, result in I found exactly what I used to be looking for. You've ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye Also visit my site This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your excellent post. Also, I have shared your web site in my social networks! Feel free to surf to my web blog

Light up Fifty one electronic delivers the most recent today's technology in addition to your quantity of Which can be used within their particular electronic cigarette match ups the amounts on the realistic cigarette designer manufacturers you possess actually been ingestion to help light up. Considering the e cig you'll without doubt don't have situations reforming due to the fact e cig is really as specific the way it contains in addition to means that your perfect change from valid strong tobacco to make sure you e cigs free of almost any damaging threats which might generate severe problems to your own overall health.

We stumbled over here coming from a different website and thought I should check things out. I like what I see so now i'm following you. Look forward to going over your web page repeatedly. Here is my website;

Hello colleagues, how is all, and what you want to say regarding this paragraph, in my view its actually remarkable for me. Also visit my weblog:

What's up, just wanted to mention, I enjoyed this post. It was funny. Keep on posting! Also visit my webpage

Why users still use to read news papers when in this technological globe all is presented on net? My webpage:

First off I want to say wonderful blog! I had a quick question in which I'd like to ask if you don't mind. I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your mind before writing. I have had difficulty clearing my mind in getting my thoughts out. I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or hints? Thanks! Look into my web blog ...

This article is actually a nice one it helps new the web people, who are wishing in favor of blogging. Also visit my homepage:

Hi to all, the contents present at this website are genuinely awesome for people knowledge, well, keep up the good work fellows. Feel free to surf to my homepage ..

Right away I am going away to do my breakfast, afterward having my breakfast coming again to read more news. Also visit my web page

There's definately a great deal to find out about this subject. I love all of the points you made.

This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your wonderful post. Also, I have shared your web site in my social networks! My blog;

Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a 25 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone! Take a look at my webpage ...

I know this if off topic but I'm looking into starting my own blog and was curious what all is required to get setup? I'm assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I'm not very web savvy so I'm not 100% sure. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Appreciate it Also visit my webpage:

Serious hobbyists and sports athletes take time examine painting products related with different companies, posting a lot more body weight upon select attributes than the others. Many of the homeowners were already preparing for the fall season and decorated their gardens accordingly. But it's not all about the trees; the entire campus is dotted with flowering shrubs, grasses and vines. Feel free to visit my blog

Normally I do not read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to take a look at and do so! Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thank you, quite nice post. My site:

I do trust all the concepts you have offered on your post. They're really convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are very brief for novices. May you please prolong them a bit from next time? Thank you for the post. Feel free to surf to my web site:

Great blog right here! Additionally your site quite a bit up fast! What web host are you the use of? Can I am getting your associate hyperlink in your host? I want my site loaded up as fast as yours lol Feel free to surf to my web page :

These are still mid range skills, and they improve upon other skills with additional destruction. Rather than listen and hold court on all of the catastrophic predictions being blasted out into the Universe, stop for a moment, and simply be with yourself. This is going to put the squeeze on bond rates even further. Have a look at my weblog - just click the following post o

I pay a quick visit day-to-day some sites and blogs to read content, except this blog offers quality based writing. My blog .

Hi there all, here every person is sharing such familiarity, therefore it's pleasant to read this webpage, and I used to go to see this website every day. Stop by my blog

I was suggested this website by my cousin. I'm not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my trouble. You are amazing! Thanks! Take a look at my web page; J

I'm not certain the place you're getting your information, but great topic. I must spend a while finding out more or working out more. Thanks for magnificent information I was on the lookout for this information for my mission. Take a look at my web blog

I'm not certain the place you're getting your information, but great topic. I must spend a while finding out more or working out more. Thanks for magnificent information I was on the lookout for this information for my mission. Feel free to visit my homepage -

Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I in finding It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I am hoping to provide one thing back and aid others such as you aided me. My homepage P

Fantastic beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your website, how can i subscribe for a blog site? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear concept my site

This web site really has all the information I wanted about this subject and didn't know who to ask. Feel free to visit my website

It's your own piece of 'intellectual property', your own trademark or patent. In the following scenario where the identity thieves provide you with your own personal information it is easy to see how one can be fooled. Besides, you can also download the 15-day free trial version. Here is my web page;

I am curious to find out what blog system you happen to be utilizing? I'm experiencing some small security issues with my latest website and I'd like to find something more safeguarded. Do you have any recommendations? my weblog

Great blog you have got here.. It's hard to find high-quality writing like yours nowadays. I honestly appreciate people like you! Take care!! Also visit my web blog ..

The key to discoveгing swing tradеr 247 require cοntinual and сonѕtant run-ins with the OFT clearly hаs сaptured 17% of the month and five consecutive candlesticks. Have a look at my website ::

Mу homеpage ...

We're a group of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community. Your web site offered us with helpful info to work on. You've performed an impressive process and our whole community will probably be thankful to you. Also visit my weblog:

These five free basketball game apps for the i - Phone will surely help you get your game on. You will eventually run into the Download Location menu with two options: Wii System Menu and SD Card. The reason for this rather strange feature is that, as described above, apps in the Android Market are listed as they are submitted, without any testing. Feel free to visit my weblog ::

Try downloading a game demo prior to purchasing the actual game so that you can determine if you're going to enjoy it. The popularity of online multiplayer seems to have overshadowed the experience of playing with someone who is sitting next to you. Otherwise, choose the NES emulator you think will work best for you and your system. Here is my blog ..

Over time Pandora gets smarter and smarter as it gets to know you and your musical tastes. Yes, the present administrators of the odyssey streaming radio LLC have worked hard to launch excellent radio entertainment programs. Once at your site, users can buy your products and services or click on your Ad - Sense ads. Here is my page; R

Also visit my web-site -

It's remarkable to visit this web site and reading the views of all colleagues regarding this article, while I am also keen of getting familiarity. Also visit my web page;

Really no matter if someone doesn't be aware of then its up to other viewers that they will assist, so here it happens. Here is my web site ..

It can, however, be pre-ordered, as its release date is in the near future. As Atlantis emerged from the blackness of space and into the blistering lights of the John F. ''. It scored a decent 3208 marks in the PCMark04 benchmark. These applications are delivered with a lot more flexibility at a fraction of the cost compared to desktop applications. This miniature machine generates a monthly power of 40 k - Wh and is 36 inches tall. A low quality product may lose its shine in a few days or may simply get tarnished due to overuse or after coming in contact with water. Nevertheless, we're now moving on and talking about the top Xbox 360 games for 2012. a far cry: a long way from. A Whole Lot of Exciting Options to Choose from Advanced car wash equipment use low-flow technology that drastically reduces drying times for carpets and upholstery. Have a look at my web blog:

Tomb Raider, Mega Moolah, Mermaid's Millions, and Blackjack are some of the new Android game apps that have been released from Microgaming's partner, Spin 3. If you want to enjoy the game thoroughly then you need to get on board of a reliable online bingo site to get the maximum enjoyment as well as benefit of the game. Even when things seem hopeless, Kiko's narration provides some great comedy relief. My website

When you quit, you can immediately feel its decision within 24 hours, health benefits, which can cause you to not smoke forever. So, follow the battery power saving tips above to get the most bang for your buck. Aside from these types of power packs, you can even choose the 8-cell and also 12-cell electric battery. my webpage:

Although, in this current life situation, stress is rather common, you should control the stress level. HIV and Single's mission, as stated on their website is to help people living with HIV find friendship, love and companionship without the fear of disclosure, stigmas or judgment. Die Acai Beeren kommen ursprünglich aus dem Regenwald des Amazonas und dort stellen diese Früchte seit Jahrzehnten eine signifikante Zutat des Essens der Indianer dar. my site

If you are using firewall software such as Outpost Firewall Pro, the paid edition of Online Armor and Kaspersky Internet Security or PURE, you can take advantage of using their Blocklist feature that will block connections to known malicious URL and IP addresses. If you encourage your visitors to write their original reviews about your products instead of coping reviews from competitive websites to show you have circulation and satisfied customers, your website is more likely to earn higher ranking in the major search engines. You can then take a hard look at the companies that come up for that particular keyword. The main aim of SEO is to get search engines positioning a certain website well in results for specific keywords. SEO must be implemented by following a step by step process. It would cut the marketing project to fit it into your budget. Instead, the developer should concentrate on the functions mentioned in this article first, as they are the basis for further on

This provides an important social outlet for many youngsters in a time when more and more people are becoming increasingly isolated from one another. Your best bet is to choose a video card that is just one or two steps down from the number one card now. Many games have role-playing incorporated and from the young age kids quickly learn from your heroes they choose to be. Here is my blog post mouse click the following web site Also see my web site: More hints on

And then, you'll probably see that the battery's charge won't be as durable as before. So, follow the battery power saving tips above to get the most bang for your buck. Although, sound card is integrated device, it functions similar to brightness of the screen when talking about power consumption. Also visit my web page;

I realize that there is not a ton of variety in this list, since Rogue and i - Net - Hack are essentially the same and Sorcerer #1 and #2 are more overtly the same. Each program will have a box with a checkmark, find the programs you'd like to uninstall and uncheck that box. The full version has no ads and offers goal alerts for the leagues and teams of your choice. Here is my web blog;

Hey theгe! I simply wаnt to offer you а bіg thumbs up for the great info you've got here on this post. I'll be сoming back to your web site for more soon. Fеel free to ѵіsіt my blοg:

1. Once the number of back links will increase, web traffic flow will enhance. The more doors you have the more chances of people finding it. The only thing that cannot be "fixed" later is your blog and post titles. Thus, in minimum cost, you get an opportunity to increase your site ranking on Search Engine Result Page (SERP). Meta Name and Meta Description Tags are two of the important ones. The tips are as follows:-. Second tool for power suite is website auditor. It focuses on networking and impeccable website maintenance. Be sure that the SEO outsourcing company you hire is capable of communicating properly. Thus, if your charges are overly cheap, this might cause doubts and worries from their mines regarding the quality of the service they get. Still hanging on. Advertise by Selling Branded Products. Immediately the word free caught my eye. Learn from other people's mistakes and experiences rather than destroying your own skills and wasting your time on

CICS on Facebook

Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival - June 21-24 2012

 

Updated  28th June 2012

Maggie and got back home on Tuesday, and as of today, I've posted three videos from the Omar Hyat concert to YouTube. I've added a plylist below, which wil grow in the weeks and months to come. I'll write something later. Enjoy!

They published the dates for the 15th Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival - June 21-24 2012 - shortly after the 2011 festival ended, so I've waited till now to start this post on the 2012 festival. Earlier today, the organisers held a twit-fest in conjunction with a press conference, when they announced the artists who will be performing this year. The program itself has not yet been published, but they have declared which venues will be used - the same as last year (unfortunately, Place Bab Marrakech will still just be used as a car park. Funny thing is, when I first arrived in Essaouira, back in 1972, we parked our van on some rough ground just outside the Marrakech gate - plus ca change - as they say).

As last year, the two main venues are Place Moulay Hassan and Scene Meditel, on the beach. While it's still largely a free festival, you can buy a “4 day pass” or a “1 day pass” gives access to room in front of the stage at the two major Festival venues. You also have to pay to get into the intimate music sessions at Zaouia Sidna Bilal, Dar Souri, and Bastion Bab Marrakech. Most of these events cost 100 Dirhams.

Anyway, getting back to the festival, here's a list of the artists taken from the festival web-site http://www.festival-gnaoua.net/ :

• Carlou D (Senegal)
• Djembe New Style
• Fareed Ayaz et Abu Mohamed (Pakistan)
• Hoba Hoba Spirit (Casablanca)
• The Issaoua Brotherhood (Essaouira)
• Maâlem Abdelkader Amlil (Rabat)
• Maâlem Abdelkebir Merchane (Marrakech)
• Maâlem Abdellah Akharraz (Essaouira)
• Maâlem Abdelouahed Stitou (Tanger)
• Maâlem Abdenbi El Gadari (Casablanca)
• Maâlem Abdeslam Alikane & ... (Essaouira)
• Maâlem Allal Soudani (Essaouira)
• Maâlem Hamid El Kasri (Rabat)
• Maâlem Hassan Boussou (Casablanca)
• Maâlem Mahjoub Khalmouss
• Maâlem Mohamed Kouyou (Marrakech)
• Maâlem Mohamed Lebbat (Marrakech)
• Maalem Mahmoud Guinea (Essaouira)
• Maâlem Mokhtar Guinea (Essaouira)
• Maâlem Mustapha Bakbou (Marrakech)
• Maâlem Omar Hayat (Essaouira)
• Maâlem Rachid Fadli Ladhass (Rabat)
• Maâlem Saïd El Bourki
• Maâlem Saïd Oughassal (Casablanca)
• Maâlem Saïd Tahlaoui (Safi)
• Mobydick
• Musiciens de Bob Maghrib (Morocco)
• Musiciens de Mayara Band (Morocco)
• Nasser (France)
• Oumou Sangaré (Mali)
• Querencia
• Soweto Kinch quartet with ... (UK)
• Sylvain Luc trio
• Trio Joachim Kühn, Majid Bekkas, Ramon Lopez & les Gnaoua de Salé (Germany/Morocco /Spain)

My, it's tedious, copying and pasting all of these links, so, maybe I'll get around tgo finishing that later.

So, what sounds good to me?

Fareed Ayaz et Abu Mohamed - Quawalli musicians from Pakistan should be good - I saw Mehr Ali and Sher Ali a few years ago, and they were superb. That was before I started to record and film at Essaouira, but I still have a pretty strong memory of them, so I have high hopes.

Oumou Sangaré from Mali is the only woman to be billed this year - a pretty poor show, if you ask me. She's new to me, but she played here in 2003 - musically, one of my favourite years, so I'm looking forward to her.

Musiciens de Bob Maghrib promise a feast of gnaoua-inspired reggae (or maybe reggae-inspired gnaoua) that should awaken my inner rasta, so watch out, folks.

Omar Hyatt always puts on a great show, but what I really like about him is the way he grooves with jazz and rock musicians, so, I'm interested to see who he'll be playing with.

Hassan Boussou with Nasser and MobyDick will give us electro-rap-gnaoua which should be interesting. Rap's not my favourite, and French rap sounds even less appealing, but Boussou is not a man who makes bad music, so, I'm going to hang fire on my opinion - I'll let you all know how it turns out.

I'm quite excited about Trio Joachim Kühn, Majid Bekkas, Ramon Lopez & les Gnaoua de Salé - Majid Bekkas plays a couple of numbers on my 2003 festival CD - Galou is one of my all-time favourites, so this set is a must for me.

Update: I'm very happy to say that though he wasn't listed originally on the web-site, the Press Dosier says that Maalem Mahmoud Guinea will be playing after all. Hurray!

I'll take a closer look at the line-up in the coming weeks and try to listen to some of the musicians who are new to me, but at first glance, it's looking good.

New Dutch Wietpas / Weed Pass - Much Worse Than I Thought!

I was in Amsterdam yesterday and was told the gist of this by a well informed source. Everything he said is as described in the extract below, taken today from the Netherlands Government's website.
My source also said, but this is not confirmed, that an individual would only be able to register with a single coffee shop, preventing both socialising, and the ability to exercise choice as to where you would like to smoke at any given time of day.
A few years ago, they stopped you being able to buy alcohol in a coffee shop, which also prevented mixed groups of people who wanted to both drink and smoke from socialising in the same place.
My source also asserted that the new measures would push drugs back onto the streets, where sales would be uncontrolled, organized by local criminal gangs with power struggles likely to cause injury and even death.

Not everyone who visits Amsterdam and other Dutch cities goes there to smoke. It's a wonderful place that you can enjoy in so many different ways. But all visitors will be effected by this, since the safe streets and canals that they enjoy walking along late into the night will not feel or be so safe any more.

I've been visiting The Netherlands for over forty years and I've always loved the people and the country for their practical, pragmatic, and progressive attitude to life. I'm saddened by this move, but I hope that sense will prevail. Please support the opposition to these changes. If I find a focal point for that, I will append it here.

There's some good, independent commentary here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/05/01/netherlands-marijuana-amsterdam-tourists-law.html 

This links to a translation of the Wikipedia Weitpas page, currently only available in the Dutch language.

http://www.government.nl/issues/alcohol-and-drugs/drugs/soft-drug-policy  

Rules on coffee shops to be toughened up

The aim of drugs policy is to limit damage to public health and combat nuisance and crime. This policy is now being stepped up.

The ‘open door’ policy currently pursued by coffee shops will come to an end. The objective is to combat the nuisance and crime associated with coffee shops and the trade in drugs. Coffee shops must become smaller and easier to control. Dutch drug policy needs to become less attractive to drug users from abroad. Coffee shops will be small, private clubs that focus on the local market.

In recent years the trade in drugs has grown in scale and has become more professional and commercial. In response to this, the approach to organised drug-related crime has been intensified.

In order to achieve government objectives, the rules on cannabis and coffee shops are being tightened up:

• coffee shops will become private clubs, with a maximum of 2,000 members;
• membership will be recorded in a membership list;
• the coffee shop will provide members with a membership card;
• only residents of the Netherlands aged 18 years or older will be eligible for membership;
• no coffee shop may be located within 350 metres of a school;
• from now on cannabis with a THC content of 15% or more will be classified as a hard drug.

Membership lists for coffeee shops

Coffee shops owners must maintain membership records. The cabinet expects that drug tourism and nuisance related to drugs will be managed better as a result of private coffee shops. The following rules apply to membership records:

• the applicant member must be older than 18 years of age and resident of the Netherlands. He has to prove that he fulfills those two criteria by producing a valid identification document and an extract from the Municipal Personal Records Database. The extract must be more recent than 4 weeks;
• the membership must be longer than one year; 
• those who are not members may not enter the coffee shop;
• the maximum amount of members one coffees hop can have is  2000 .

Membership card for coffee shops

The owner of the coffee shop has to make sure he only allows entry to members. Membership can be checked by a membership card (also referred to by the media as “wietpas” (weed card.) The owner of the coffee shop can also check who is a member and who is not.

Membership lists and membership card to be introduced gradually

The new rules will be introduced gradually:

• the amendment of the toleration criteria (as specified in the Opium Act Instructions) will come into effect on 1 January 2012;
• the new rules will come into effect in the following provinces on 1 May 2012: Limburg, North Brabant and Zeeland (with the exception of the rule on the maximum number of members);
• municipalities in other provinces may also choose to introduce the new system as of this date;
• as of 1 January 2013 all rules, including the maximum number of members, will apply throughout the Netherlands.

Informing drug tourists

Non-residents of the Netherlands cannot become a member of a coffee shop and can therefore no longer use them. This will apply in the provinces Limburg, North Brabant and Zeeland as of 1 May 2012 and in the rest of the Netherlands as of 1 January 2013. Information on the new members’ system are be available at the website www.new-rules.eu.

The site will also provide:

• information on the new rules in 4 languages (Dutch, English, French and German);
• information on drug addiction, with details of addiction care in a range of European languages;
• information for municipalities introducing the system. (For instance on communication tools (including leaflets) that municipalities can utilize. This part of the site is only accessible for municipalities.

Minimum distance between coffee shops and schools

There will be a ban on locating coffee shops within 350 metres of secondary schools and secondary vocational institutions. The aim is to introduce this rule by 1 January 2014.

Michan Mijsbergh 'Eat Your Heart Out' exhibition at the GO Gallery, Amsterdam

I was lucky to be in Amsterdam last week and able to catch Eat Your Heart Out - Michan Mijsbergh's first solo exhibition at the Go Gallery. If you are anywhere near Amsterdam before the end of April, you must visit . I was blown away by this young man's (he's only 21) outstanding talent. Don't miss it. Here are some examples, from photographs I took there. Thanks to Oscar and Farud for being so gracious.

You really should click on these photographs to see them full size - the detail is very fine. Sometimes you feel you are falling into the chasms of his creature's faces.