Very popular in Morocco and around the world, Hamid El Kasri is one of the pillars of the Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival. He is Vice-Ppresident of the Yerma Gnaoua Association and also one of the most frequent performers on the Festival stages. His 2004 performance, in fusion with the brilliant late Austrian pianist Joe Zawinul, is etched into the history of the Festival. He has continued these collaborations, notably with Karim Ziad, Hamayun Kahn and Shahin Shahida in 2011. In 2018, he opened the Festival with a fusion alongside the famous Brooklyn-based jam Jazz group, Snarky Puppy.  Born in 1961 in Ksar El Kebir in northern Morocco, he began his training at the age of 7 with Maâlems Alouane and Abdelouahed Stitou, though his true passion originated with his grandmother’s husband, a former slave from Sudan. With his unique talent he is able to combine Gnaoua rhythms from both northern and southern Morocco. His deep, intense voice makes him one of the leading concert performers in the country.  For this edition of the Festival, audiences will meet him again in an exceptional fusion, paired with American-Quebecer-Guadeloupean group, Bokanté.