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I knew from the very first time I heard San Francisco's Hamsa Lila that this one-of-a-kind band played a style of music I've been waiting my entire life to hear. This unusual music originates from a place of oneness, before we were Arab and Jew, Black and White, East and West. It's an ancient sound from lands far away yet immediately accessible and sorely needed by us Westerners. It's the sound of wisdom, gratitude, compassion, and peace - an acknowledgement of the immense pleasures and pains of the human experience. This however is not just another world music ensemble; the reason you should check this band out is because they approach their ancient roots music with a jam-band aesthetic... they make you move and groove in the most delicious of ways.
With a well balanced mix of songs and instrumentals, male and female voices, percussion, unusual stringed instruments, and saxophone, flute and jaw harp solos, Hamsa Lila brings together elements of world, trance, roots, and sacred musical traditions in a fashion I have never heard before. The long, seemingly orchestrated yet improvised jams enchant (and sometimes even hypnotize!) the listener. Hamsa Lila's audiences become part of the show as the band creates a call and response, chanting ancient Arabic, African and Native American prayers, as well as their own original chants back and forth. The tempos of many their songs compel their audiences to sway, spin, rock and twirl. Other more quiet numbers are so hauntingly beautiful that audiences are moved to smile in utter silence... as though collectively giving thanks for such a blissful moment of peace. All in all; Hamsa Lila makes healing music for the body/mind/spirit.
The primary source of Hamsa Lila's beauty, power, and sacredness lies in the Gnawa musical tradition of Morocco. Most of their songs start with an ancient melody and traditional ethnic lyrics of devotion, but almost always, the band moves through this devotional music of chant and prayer into the realm of improvised acoustic psychedelic funk jazz. The kicker is that this band sports a wealth of instruments not often seen in our culture including the camel skinned Sintir (a three stringed acoustic bass instrument with a super-funky tonality), Quaraqeb (castanets), and the goat skinned Guimbri (a four stringed rhythm guitar-like instrument) - all hailing from Morocco. They also play the African Djembe, Kalimba (thumb piano), Talking Drum, the Caribbean Conga, Sax, Flute and Bass Clarinet. Sometimes mouth harps from India and the Phillippines and western traps drum sets are folded into the mix. The result is pure synergy in a distinct style not seen elsewhere on this planet.
This band was one of the highlights at every West Coast festival they played in 2001. I saw them at the Health and Harmony festival, the Oregon Country Fair, String Cheese's epic Summer Camp at Horning's Hideout in Oregon, the Burning Man Festival in Nevada and Earthdance in Santa Rosa. Each time I was in their presence I heard something new, different and wonderful. Oftentimes they had many interesting guests sitting in including members of String Cheese, the Motet, and Spearhead. They are certainly a different kind of jam band, heavy on the world music side, often energized like Fela & Femi Kuti, other times solemn like Nusrat Fateh Ali Kan. They also embrace an unmistakable earthy vibe, like Freedom Tribe. But they are also jazzy, sometimes as upbeat and funky as Galactic and sometimes ethereal and spacey like Pharoah Sanders. They fit in perfectly at Horning's Hideout, closing each night after the String Cheese shows by rockin' the Casbah till sunrise. It''s amazing that Hamsa Lila can make ethnic trance music fit so naturally into the jam band scene. For anyone looking for beautifully powerful music that takes you on a nomadic journey to the heart and soul of North Africa and the Middle East led by Bohemian shamans from Northern California, this is the band for you. The time is ripe for this kind of music, we deeply need the healing, community, and soulfulness that Hamsa Lila shows offer. Make sure you go to a show if you can, the long wait is over...
Michael Sammet
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