Inheriting the group's leadership from his father in 1982, Bachir Attar has guided the Master Musicians of Jajouka through one of their most fulfilling periods. Under Attar's direction, the group, which beat novelist William Burroughs called a "4,000 year old rock & roll band" and www.crittersbuggin.com called the "ancient founding family of trance," has collaborated with international artists including the Rolling Stones, Ornette Coleman, Maceo Parker, Sonic Youth, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Indian composer, DJ, club promoter, and tabla player Talvin Singh produced the ensemble's 2000 album Searching for the Passions. A native of the northern Moroccan foothills of the Rif Mountains, Attar was born to be a musician. Descended from a long line of government-sanctioned musicians, including the royal court musicians for seven kings prior to the occupation of Monocco by France and Spain, he began studying percussion at the age of four. Attar was still a youngster when the Master Musicians of Jajouka were recorded by the late Brian Jones, shortly before his death from drowning in 1969. The album The Pipes of Pan at Jajouka was released two years later. In addition to his involvement with the Master Musicians of Jajouka, Attar has maintained an active career as a soloist and recording sideman. During frequent trips to Paris, London, and New York, he collaborated with Deborah Harry, Ornette Coleman, Maceo Parker, the Rolling Stones, and Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo. A solo album, The Next Dream, was released in 1992 and was followed by In New York, recorded with influential improviser Elliott Sharp, in 1994. ~ Craig Harris