Moroccan band Ribab Fusion stops at The 9th Annual Joshua Tree Festival on it US Debut Tour. The festival which takes place from Oct. 9 – Oct. 12 features a full line up of eclectic, indie bands. Ribab Fusion, goes on stage Saturday, Oct 11th at 5:30 p.m.
Ribab Fusion’s sound is a mashup of 70s-style funk, Latin dance vibes, high-energy call-and-responses choruses. It’s an accomplished mix, meant to wow technically and get people celebrating. Led by Foulane Bouhssine, who’s on a mission to turn the bowed, one-string fiddle into a furiously funky sign of a new era, the band hails from the beachfront city of Agadir, Morroco.
With wild flourishes of keyboard, a local instrument, the outar, that’s a similar to the banjo and Bouhssine’s virtuosic playing, Ribab Fusion has been described as sounding “as sweetly Mediterranean as the Gypsy Kings, as raucous and rhythmically intense as the best Afropop, while never losing sight of their distinct Southwestern Moroccan traditions.”
Ribab Fusion includes Foulane Bouhssine (Band leader, Ribab, Violin, Vocals), Ouarssas Ahmed (Outar, Guitar), Jamal Boumadkar (Bass Guitar), Mohamed Bounit (Traditional Percussion), Redouane Maris (Keyboards), Mehdi Nassouli (Gimbri “Hajhuj”, Percussion, Vocals) and Youness Teftal (drums).
The band makes its U.S. debut tour as part of Center Stage, an exchange program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Exchange programs initiated by the Bureau support U.S. foreign policy goals and engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and rising leaders in the U.S. and more than 160 countries. Center Stage uses the performing arts to support cultural understanding between American and international communities; participating artists experience the U.S. first hand and cultivate lasting relationships.
The 9th Annual Joshua Tree Music takes place at the Joshua Tree Lake Campground from Thursday, Oct. 9 – Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014 and features weekend full of local and international bands.
For more info on Ribab Fusion visit ribab-fusion.com.