Seffarine – ZAG Concert Series

Seffarine’s international blend of sounds features soulful Moroccan singer Lamiae Naki and flamenco guitarist Nat Hulskamp. Their music embraces and extends Naki’s rich heritage, which spans from Moorish Spain to the Sahara, by mixing Arabic Andalusi music with Hulskamp’s dynamic flamenco guitar, the grooves of acclaimed percussionist Mimy Fiaindratovo Manavihare. These diverse backgrounds meld into an intoxicating blend of ancient and modern that Bass Player Magazine describes as a gorgeous intersection of Spanish flamenco, Arabic and Andalusian music, Persian classical, and jazz.

In 2015, Seffarine was awarded a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council to travel to Spain to record their original music in collaboration with living legends of flamenco music, including Diego del Morao and Tomasa La Macanita. The record gained Seffarine international acclaim when it placed in top world music charts around the globe, including Afribuku’s Top 13 African Releases and the Transglobal World Music Charts, a panel of 43 world music experts from 28 countries. In 2017, Seffarine was honored to be selected by the Western Arts Alliance (WAA) as one of three Launchpad Artists. Seffarine is based in Portland, OR and has been playing to enthusiastic audiences from the Western US to as far as Indonesia.

Seffarine takes its name from the ancient metalworking square in Lamiae’s home city of Fes, Morocco. Her family is well known in the Seffarine as master metalworkers continuing the tradition today. The square dates back to the 9th century and is famous for the complex rhythms that can be heard from the blacksmiths’ hammers.