Spirit Africa

Spirit Africa is a Moroccan fusion band that emerged in late 2013, created by Ashraf RHDI (composer and music teacher), Simo Valda (gumbri), Nabil Rochdi (guitar and bass), Ucef Dajo (accordion and vocal), Mustafa El Khlifi (drum and percussion), all originally from the city of Salé in Morocco. The objective of the creation of the collective came from the artists' desire to preserve and develop the traditional artistic practice, which is the Gnawa or Tagnawite, traditional music and practices that belong to the old black slaves, taken from their homelands and sold in the slave market of Essaouira city (Mogador), and merging those practices with other styles and rhythms from the world, like samba, reggae, and capoeira music, which have many similarities that explain their origins. The group started its first concerts in 2014 in several cities of Morocco. Spirit Africa sees beyond the traditional boundaries of Gnawa music by opening up to other influences such as funk, reggae, samba, in order to give this musical and spiritual practice from the slavery age an international link. Spirit Africa is recording their first album to be released in late 2015.