Seffarine: Abaraz

Abaraz ⴰⴱⴰⵔⴰⵣ Gateway to the Sahara

Lamiae Naki was born in Fes and grew up hearing the music of Mhamid El Ghizlane, a small oasis town at the edge of the Moroccan Sahara where Arab, Amazigh, West African, and Saharan traditions have crossed paths for centuries. Climate change and migration are reshaping the region, and with it, these traditions.

Naki, whose family roots are in Southern Morocco, traveled there with Seffarine co-founder Nat Hulskamp to record with local musicians and document the community’s songs and stories. That material is at the heart of Abaraz – original compositions alongside traditional pieces, brought forward by an ensemble that spans Morocco, Spain, and the Pacific Northwest. On stage, frame drums, oud, guimbri, ngoni, flamenco percussion, and Naki’s voice carry music that has traveled the same trade routes for generations.

The performance weaves live music together with video projections and field recordings made in Mhamid – an enchanting portrait of a place the we don’t often hear from.

Abaraz is supported by grants from the Oregon Community Foundation and The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, and was commissioned by the PRAx Center for the Performing Arts at Oregon State University.