Moroccan+Roll

toc Moroccan Roll is a sub-genre within the World Music genre; the term was coined by fans of a Canadian music group [|The Tea Party]. The term is often cited tongue-in-cheek in that it is used with a slang quality in most instances to describe the music. It is sometimes refered to as an //East-Meets-West// genre in that it combines the music and instruments of western rock'n'roll, folk, and blues music with the Eastern (Asian) melodies and instruments from India, Africa, Turkey, and China (to name a few). The name of this genre is a fusion of the words Moroccan (as in the country of Morocco in North Africa) and Rock'n'Roll. Moroccan Roll is a very small genre of music in that few artist have only gone so far as to experimenting with this theme and maybe recording it afterwards.

=History=

The history of this genre can basically be tracked through the years through a very exclusive list of musical bands:

The Beatles
As much as the Beatles were Pioneers of Rock'n'Roll, they're also pioneers Moroccan Roll as well. As George Harrison of the Beatles grew fond of Indian culture, he and his wife Pattie were pilgrims to India in 1966. Enthusiastic to experience Indian music first hand, Harrison had first tried to acquaint himself with the sitar. George had begun his formal training with his muse, sitarist Ravi Shankar. Harrison the became the first Western musician to incorporate the elements of Indian music into pop music in The Beatles' 1965 release //Rubber Soul// on the song "Norwegian Wood (The Bird Has Flown)" ([|click for sample]).

Harrison then delved deeper into Indian culture he began writing songs with more of a "world" feel to them; three of these songs would appear on the 1966 release //Revolver//. "Love You To" featured Harrison on the [|Tamboura] and Sitar (seen right played by George) and was a clear break from anything heard before.

The next endeavor by the Fab Four was 1967's //Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band//. A track on this album, "Within You Without You" is cited by Jeff Martin to be his initial influence for his likeness for world music. Jeff Martin, discussed later, is major character in the evolution of this genre.

The Rolling Stones
At the same time The Beatles released //Revolver//, guitarist Brian Jones recorded the main riff of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black" with a sitar. This song was featured on their 1966 release //Aftermath//. The release of this song saw the first time a sitar was featured in a Billboard #1 single. The Tea Party would later record this song as a cover on their greatest hits collection //Tangents: The Tea Party Collection// in 2000.

The Tea Party
After the Tea Party's 'psycadelic era' that spanned from their 1990 indie album to their 1993 major label debut, //Splendor Solis//, Jeff Martin, Stuart Chatwood and Jeff Burrows set out to create the first Moroccan Roll album, 1995's //The Edges Of Twilight//. The trio cited their growing interest with World Music, they included 31 instruments in the recording of this album.

=Analysis=