While many North American cities have farmers' markets where local produce can be purchased or enjoy specialty markets like Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, the market as a public gathering place on that continent has never established itself to the extent that it has in other places in the world. While some have tried to make the spurious argument that the shopping mall has become the market of today, large groups of people sharing the common objective of spending money don't lend itself to the level of social interaction one experiences in the markets of Europe and North Africa.

Many of the markets in Europe have existed for thousands of years; they dot the trade routes that have snaked their way from India to Europe and into North Africa since long before the birth of Christ. Thus they were not only places of commerce, they were the only source of information as to what was happening in the world beyond a city's walls. Caravans would arrive carrying goods and information from around the world and people would gather to see the wonders and hear the news.

Of course where ever people gathered, so would those who required an audience. Musicians, storytellers, priests, soothsayers, and animal trainers would flock to the markets to perform and evangelize. In some ways it was the natural extension of when a tribe used to gather round the fire to sing the songs and tell the stories that told them who they were and to enact the rituals needed to guarantee their survival. The markets served the same function as the communal fires on a larger scale as befitted the increased size of population centres.

The Trans-Saharan Highway follows the old the caravan routes across the Sahara desert, beginning in the Moroccan port city of Essaouira and traveling down the road to Marrakesh before setting off into the sand. The market in Marrakesh, Jemma (or Djemaa) el Fna has been the gathering spot for caravans setting out upon the trade routes for centuries now. By day the market bustles with the sight, sound and smell of colours and scents from all over Africa and the East while the business of trade is carried out. But when darkness falls and the shutters close, merchants covering the stalls with their bolts of cloth and heaps of spices, the descendants of generation's old musical brotherhoods begin to perform.