Maâlem Mahmoud Guinea
“Mahmoud Guinia / the King”
- 📍
- Essaouira
- ·
- 1951–2015
AI illustration
Biography
The towering figure of late-20th-century Gnawa, often referred to as 'the King'. Mahmoud Guinea carried the Saouiri style to international audiences while remaining deeply rooted in lila practice. His 1994 collaboration with Pharoah Sanders, *The Trance of Seven Colors*, opened Gnawa to a global jazz audience.
Listen — signature tracks
Bania
with James Holden
Mimoun Marhaba
with Floating Points
Boiler Room Marrakech (live set)
Discography
The Trance of Seven Colors
1994Axiomwith Pharoah Sanders, Bill Laswell
Most prominent Western release; bridge to global jazz audiences.
Marhaba
2015EP released the year of his death.
Colours of the Night
Various Fikriphone / Tichkaphone releases
Live lila recordings and studio sessions issued through Moroccan cassette labels from the 1970s onward.
Lineage
- Son of Boubker Guinea and A'isha Qabral
- Brother of Mokhtar, Abdellah, and Bilal Guinea
- Father of Houssam Guinea