world. As a result, Gnawa music has taken a new direction by fusing its core spiritual music with genres like jazz, blues, reggae, and hip-hop. For four days every June, the festival welcomes musicians that come to participate, exchange and mix their own music with Gnawa music, creating one of the largest public festivals in Morocco. Since its debut in 1998, the free concerts have drawn an audience that has grown from 20,000 to over 200,000 in 2006, including 10,000 visitors from around the world. Past participants have included Randy Weston, Adam Rudolph, The Wailers, Pharoah Sanders, Keziah Jones, Byron Wallen, Omar Sosa, Doudou N'Diaye Rose, and the Italian trumpet player Paolo Fresu. There are also projects such as "The Sudani Project", a jazz/gnawa dialogue between saxophonist/composer Patrick Brennan, Gnawi maâlem Najib Sudani, and drummer/percussionist/vocalist Nirankar Khalsa. Brennan has pointed out that the metal qraqeb and gut bass strings of the guembri parallel the cymbal and bass in jazz sound. In the 1990s, young musicians from various backgrounds and nationalities started to form modern Gnawa bands. Gnawa Impulse from Germany, Mehdi Qamoum aka Medicament (The cure) from Morocco, Bab L' Bluz with members from France and Morocco, and Gnawa Diffusion from Algeria are some examples. These groups offer a rich mix of musical and cultural backgrounds, fusing their individual influences into a collective sound. They have woven elements of rap, reggae, jazz, blues, rock and rai into a vibrant musical patchwork. These projects incorporating Gnawa and Western musicians are essentially Gnawa fusions. List of Gnawa maâlems Mahmoud Guinia ("the King") or Gania – Moroccan musician (b. 1951, d. August 2, 2015). He played with Pharoah Sanders and Carlos Santana, among many others. Guitarist Jimi Hendrix spent a few months in his house in Essaouira to take lessons. He is the son of the late Maâllem Boubker Gania, and his two brothers Abdelah and Mokhtar are also distinguished maâllemin. The Gania family also includes Zaida Gania, a very popular medium and clairvoyant at the nights of trance (leelas) as well as the head of a group of female gnawas, The Haddarate of Essaouira. Brahim Belkane ("The traditionalist") – He has played with Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, Adam Rudolph, Randy Weston, and Jimmy Page. He says: "There are many colours on earth: red, green, blue, yellow. You have to find these when you play, to be bright like the sun." Hamid El