Travels — Sound Routes

Region

North Africa

Morocco

From the Gnawa music of Marrakech to sessions in Essaouira, Fes and the mountain roads of the Rif, Morocco has been a recurring presence in Sound Routes — a place of musical contrast, deep tradition and open collaboration.

Marrakech Essaouira Fes Rif Mountains

Egypt

Cairo and the Nile Delta: a city of immense musical richness and layered history. Egypt has contributed to Sound Routes through encounters with traditional and contemporary musicians working across the intersection of Arabic classical, folk and modern forms.

Cairo Nile Delta

Region

West Africa

Senegal

From the Atlantic energy of Dakar to the forests of Casamance, Senegal is a country of extraordinary musical depth. Mbalax rhythms, kora traditions, vocal performance and a thriving contemporary scene have all played a role in shaping Sound Routes.

Dakar Casamance Saint-Louis

The Gambia

A sliver of a country running along a river, The Gambia is home to some of the finest kora players in the world. Sim’s collaboration with kora player Dialy — documented in the Selected Work — grew from time spent here.

Banjul The River Gambia

Guinea

Guinea has one of the richest and least internationally-known musical traditions in West Africa. Sim’s encounter with a singer performing a traditional poem from Guinea opened up a strand of the practice around voice, oral tradition and memory.

Conakry Guinean oral traditions

Mali

The home of desert blues, the griot tradition, the ngoni and one of the most extraordinary musical heritages in the world. Mali’s music — its rhythms, its textures, its sense of time — has been a lasting influence on the Sound Routes practice.

Bamako Sahel Dogon Country

Region

Beyond

Jordan

Desert roads, ancient stone and encounters with Palestinian, Bedouin and urban Jordanian music. Jordan has been part of the broader movement that shapes Sound Routes — a crossing point between Africa, the Levant and the wider world.

Amman Wadi Rum Petra

Ferry crossing or open sea — Mediterranean or Atlantic

In transit

Europe, islands and in-between

The journeys of Sound Routes also pass through island villages, railway stations, mountain roads and old European towns. These are the connecting tissue: the bus journeys, the ferry crossings, the long waits that make a journey whole.

Madeira Canuçal Kraków Romania

About these travels

Routes, not destinations

The journeys documented here are not travel trophies or a checklist of places. They are the background to a practice shaped by listening, return, conversation and collaboration. Sound Routes is interested in what happens when music becomes a way to meet people, remember places and build relationships over time.