Maalem Mahmoud Gania - Lalla Aicha

Born in 1951 in Essaouira, Mahmoud Gania came from one of the great Gnawa families. A respected singer and guimbri player he was one of the most prolific recording musicians in Morocco. From the 1970s until his death in 2015 he released many albums for a variety of Moroccan labels as well as recording with artists as diverse as Pharoah Sanders, Peter Brotzmann, James Holden and Floating Points. The track on this compilation is from the album Aicha which was recorded in Essaouira in the late ’90s and has never received a release outside of Morocco. We are incredibly proud to be reissuing the album later this year.