2021 winner of the Songlines Music Awards Fusion category.

Psychedelic Gnawa Rock (France/Morocco)

Bab L’ Bluz ( literally “The gate to the Blues”) is a Franco-Moroccan band created in 2018 in Marrakech. It is a Moroccan Psychedelic Rock band inspired by Gnawa and Hassani traditions, combining Rock, current music & Moroccan popular music.

Bab L’ Bluz was born following the meeting of the Moroccan singer-guitarist Yousra Mansour and the French guitarist/producer Brice Bottin in Marrakech in early 2017. Both passionate about Gnawa music, they decide to learn together the guembri. Mid 2017, they compose a new repertoire of 10 tracks of powerful and current music, while respecting the analog universe of the 60’s & 70’s. They want to mix their influences tastefully, and want to be labeled as a Moroccan Psychedelic rock band.

Mid 2018, they are joined by friends and musicians from Lyon Jérôme Bartholomé and Hafid Zouaoui. They will do their first live concert on Radio Nova.

The group performs in international festivals such as: Arabesque, L’Boulevard, Rock Am Bach, Le Péristyle, the Opera Underground of Lyon, ARTE concerts…and released their first album Nayda! in June 2020 on Real World Records.

The release of Nayda! was positively acclaimed by critics: Mojo (Top 10 world Album of the year), Songlines Best albums of 2020, The New York Times, Vogue Arabia, BBC, Le Monde, Financial Time, Pan African Music, Uncut, Radio Nova…