Hassan Hakmoun is one of the most notable figures in contemporary Moroccan music. Thoug in the deeply traditional sounds of the Gnawa people in his native Marrakesh, His participation at WOMAD festivals Woodstock festival in 1994., collaborations with David Sanborn, Peter Gabriel, Don Cherry , Kronos Quartet,Paula Cole,Yuval Gabay,Hahn Rowe ,Richard Horowitz,Miles Davis Hakmoun'’s musical origins are rooted in the African folk music of the Islamic Gnawa sect, descendants from West African slaves brought to North Africa 16th hundred music combines complicated West African syncopations with long,. Tracing their roots back to the Bilal, a freed slave known for his beautiful voice and believed to have been chosen by the Islamic prophet Mohammed to serve as the first muezzin to call the people of the faith to their prayers, Gnawa musicians often express their religious devotion through their music, Hakmoun began learning Gnawa music after witnessing his first trance ceremony at the age of four. Through a miraculous incident involving his younger sister, whose body was mysteriously touched by the spirit, covered in cigarette burns and then healed as a result of a meeting of the local Gnawa masters,Hakmoun made his U.S. debut in 1987 at Lincoln Center in New York City with Etian and Blanca Lee'’s Trio Gna & Nomadas dance group. by Chikako Iwahori