Sheikhs Shikhats & B’net Chaabi

Alluring melodies, enchanting vocals, breathtaking brass instruments and an explosive chaabi groove. Laïla Amezian and The Sheikhs Shikhats & B'net Chaabi invite you to discover a vocal and musical tradition little known to the general public: that of the Ghanayats and Shikhats.

Alluring melodies, enchanting vocals, breathtaking brass instruments and an explosive chaabi groove. Laïla Amezian and The Sheikhs Shikhats & B'net Chaabi invite you to discover a vocal and musical tradition little known to the general public: that of the Ghanayats and Shikhats.

This project, with musical arrangements by Laurent Blondiau, pays tribute to the Ghanayats and Shikhats, female musicians who fought for freedom of expression through their art. It also highlights a cultural heritage that these singers have popularised throughout Morocco since the end of the 19th century, and which is perpetuated in Belgium.

Ghanayats and Shikhats are emblematic figures of traditional Moroccan culture, and were as much adored as despised and stigmatised. Their songs based on the art of Aïta (literally 'call' in Arabic) were practised as a means of transmitting a collective and sometimes revolutionary message. The Chaabi (lit. 'popular') became an urban style of popular and traditional songs specific to Morocco, practised during traditional festivals and dedicated to dance.

To reinterpret extracts from these chaabi and traditional repertoires, Laïla surrounds herself with vocalists and top musicians from very different horizons, including some members of the Mâäk collective, Nabou Claerhout or Toine Thys. In order to be as close as possible to the power and energy of these repertoires, the project also invites the female singer-percussionists from B'net Chaabi. 

In March 2023 the group released its first album on the Zephyrus label during a tour in a.o. Flanders, Brussels and the Netherlands.

Sheikhs Shikhats & B’net Chaabi is a production in collaboration with HalfmOon. With the support of the Vlaamse overheid voor Bovenlokale Cultuurprojecten, VGC Erfgoed, Samenwerkingsakkoord Vlaamse Gemeenschap et Communauté Française, COCOF Service Culture-Musique and Un Futur pour la Culture-Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.