Rabat – CBS News, the most-watched network in the US, honored last week the 24th edition of Morocco’s Gnaoua and World Music Festival on the 60 Minutes program, the channel’s Sunday broadcast. 

During the program, 60 Minutes journalist Bill Whitaker explored the ways in which American music of African descent, including jazz and blues, has been influenced by the rhythms and sounds of Gnaoua. 

“For many African-Americans, these rhythms are familiar,” he said, pointing out that this musical expression has traveled from the ports of Africa over the Atlantic to the US, helping to give rise to new art forms like the Blues.

For his part, famous American actor and Gnaoua music enthusiast, Robert Wisdom, stated that the festival “was a starting point. It was a place that Americans of African descent have a connection with, which we don’t really know about.”

He went on to say that Gnaoua festival goers feel the same way with the Blues of yesteryear, Wisdom stressed.