Disclaimer re Meltdown Festival London: Master Musicians of Joujouka are not the group playing in South Bank

Disclaimer about the Meltdown Festival at Southbank Centre London

Many newspapers report that The Master Musicians of Joujouka are playing this week’s Meltdown Festival in London, the group is not in London this week. We were contacted some months ago by the South Bank Centre to avoid confusion our management suggested that they should check who Ornette Coleman as who had formed a social relationship with the then New York based Bachir Attar.
The group playing in London is the commercial World Music troupe that trades off the reputation and history of this group . It is the Bachir Attar led Jajouka troupe not the Sufi trance Master Musicians of Joujouka. The troupe playing in London does not represent the people and village of Joujouka/Jajouka or of the Master Musicians who live there.

Though from the village, Bachir Attar is not part of the Sufi brotherhood based in Joujouka/Jajouka. Other than Bachir Attar only one musician playing in London this week has ever played with Master Musicians of Joujouka/Jajouka. Neither are members of the brotherhood or village community.

Master Musicians of Joujouka such as Mallim Ali El Attar, age 100, is one of the musicians who actually played with Ornette Coleman in 1973. He was also playing at the recent Joujouka Festival June 5-7 in Joujouka, Morocco (see our blog on Myspace)

Any enquiries email joujouka@gmail.com

For recent article about The Master Musicians of Joujouka, See The Guardian 29 May 2009 Take me into insanity

Mallim Ali Abdelsalm Attar, Aged 100, the oldest surviving Joujouka musician who recorded with Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones in 1968 and Ornette Coleman in 1973. Photographed by Jill Furmanovsky at the Brian Jones 40th Anniversary Festival in Joujouka/Jajouka, Morocco 29 July, 2008.