Moroccan Gypsies

Known collectively as "the Moroccan Gypsies" these itinerant musicians from Morocco are actually two troupes—Groupe Sidi Mimoun with Abdenbi El Gadari and the group Ben Souda with Taïfa-Al Essawiya— that are the most impressive examples of the living tradition of North-African Roma, or Gypsy music. Their music is distinguished by call-and-response singing accompanied by the mighty bass gimbri (a 3 stringed bass lute) and the earthy sound of the qraqabas (metal cymbals), as well as many other indigenous Moroccan instruments. —Courtesy Calabash Music