Maalem Hassan Benjaafar is a Maalem or Master of Gnawa music. He is the son of the esteemed Maalem Abdullah Benjaafar of Fes, Morocco. He was raised and educated in Al Azhar Association for Culture and the Arts, an officially recognized zaouia (Gnawa school) his father founded and ran in the Medina of Fes jdid. As a youth he travelled throughout Morocco, living, studying and performing with Maalems in every region, including Maalem Sam of Casablanca, Maalem Ahmed Bakbou and Maalem Abdelatif of Marrakesh, Maalem Boujmaa of Fes, Maalem Abdelouahed Stitu and Maalem Mbarek Kasri of Tangier, and Maalem Hmida Boussou of Marrakesh and Casablanca. He learned the entire Gnawa music and dance repertoire, including regional variations and the Moroccan Jewish repertoire, as well as how to build an