Larmame - hassan hakmoun

Hassan Hakmoun was born in Marrakech in 1963. At the age of seven he began performing tagnawit, the Gnawa related arts and lore, under local Gnawa Masters. Starting with a few dances and songs, he gradually moved on to learn drumming, sintir playing ( sintir is a three-stringed long-necked lute), litanies, chants, costume and knowledge of the spirits. Hakmoun began to play for the Derdeba (Gnawa ceremony), which can last from ten in the evening into the next day. It is believed to release spirits that have inhabited a person or place. At fourteen, Hakmoun left school to pursue a less formal education on the road. He traveled throughout Morocco, Spain and through all of Europe, learning from his experiences and from the Gnawa masters he visited on his journey. Returning to Marrakech, Hakmoun continued to work as a Gnawa, performing as an entertainer on Jamaa el-Fna, the town square and working as a m'allem (master musician) in the Derdeba. Along with other young musicians in Marrakech, he has begun to broaden the repertory of Gnawa entertainment songs by performing Arab and Berber tunes in the Gnawa style. Whether onstage, or visiting with friends in a small apartment, as Hakmoun sings and plays himself into a trance, people around him seem not too far from a trance-like state themselves. The pentatonic scale and driving rhythm of the Sintir are instantly appealing and familiar to Western audiences; music of the Gnawa, like much American popular music, is built from elements borrowed from West Africa. Clawhammer banjo enthusiasts will also find commonality in the percussive style of plucking the Sintir. Hakmoun made his U.S. debut in 1987 at Lincoln Center and has been living in New York City ever since.In 1989, Hassan made his television Debut on David Sanborn Show "NIGHT MUSIC", sharing the stage with Miles Davis. He performed at Woodstock '94 and on the WOMAD '94 tour. Hakmoun was also a guest on Jay Leno's "TONIGHT'S SHOW" in 1994. Besides performing traditional Gnawa music he has performed and recorded with jazz musicians such as Don Cherry and Adam Rudolph, pop stars like Peter Gabriel and Paula Cole, and world beat artists like Jamshied Sharifi and many more. In the year 1999, Hassan moved from New York to Los Angeles. He was married to pop singer Paula Cole, and had a baby girl, "Sky Hakmoun". They moved back to NYC in 2005, a year following their return to NYC, Hassan filed for divorce and after fighting 2 1/2 long,hard and devastating years,now,2009, Hassan has begun altogether new projects. His new album and has also opened his own Restaurant in the East Village in NYC. The name??? Of course, "Sintir", after his instrument. Running the show with Hassan, his Fiancee/his manager, Cindy Comoli.