The young Moroccan musician—the daughter of the famous mâalem Rachid Hamzaoui—began playing the guembri at a very young age; she is one of the very few (if not the only) female mâalem. Her all-female group has sparked a small revolution in the world of Moroccan Gnawa music, where they perform on the same stages as their male counterparts. 
But beyond the novelty of a female-led Gnawa ensemble, Asmâa and Bnat Timbouktou are the worthy heirs to this tradition, which combines virtuosity and spirituality and whose history dates back to the Hausa and other West African peoples. They are part of a new generation of Moroccan musicians who are transforming the genre by adapting it for concert halls, while remaining faithful to the spirit of a music rooted in rituals of healing and devotion.