Hasna El Becharia was first played on NTS on 2 February 2024. Songs played include Smaa Smaa.

Hasna el Becharia is a female Gnawa musician from Algeria. Her home town, Bechar, is in the desert area of southern Algeria. Hasna started off as an Arab-Berber style wedding musician. She started to play this type of music by herself in 1972 along with 3 friends, two of whom, Zorah and Kheira, are still with her until this day. At first, Hasna played acoustic guitar using the desert's traditional tunes. Eventually she had to resort to the electric guitar instead, so that she could be heard above the…