Hamri helped the Master Musicians of Joujouka survive by bringing them to Tangier to play. In 1951, writer Paul Bowles, met the 18-year-old Hamri at Tanger train station. He later met the painter Brion Gysin...inventor of The Cut-up technique...who tutored him and introduced him to modern European painters. Gysin and Hamri had a joint exhibition in 1952. After Hamri introduced Gysin to the Zahjouka village, Gysin became a life-long promoter of the Sufi trance master musicians who lived there. Together with Gysin, Hamri set up the 1001 Nights Restaurant in Tangier and employed the Master Musicians to play there.. In 1958 Gysin bought out Hamri's interest in the restaurant for $10,000 but he soon lost the restaurant himself.. The master musicians were led at the time by Hamri's uncle Sherkin. He soon opened a new 1001 Nights in Asilah...40 km south of Tangier...where he first met Brian Jones and subsequently brought him to Zahjouka.

Rolling Stones lead guitarist Brian Jones met Hamri when he visited Morocco in 1967. They then developed a close friendship,. In 1968, Gysin and Hamri took Jones to the village to record the master musicians in the ground-breaking release Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka, whose original cover featured a painting of Jones and The Master Musicians of Joujouka by Hamri before a 1990s redesign.

In 1975 Hamri's book Tales of Joujouka, containing his tales from the village including The Legend of Boujeloud which tells the story of Boujeloud, the half-goat/half-man beast celebrated in the annual ritual was published by Capra Press in Santa Barbara.

From 1980 onwards, Hamri divided his time between Tangier and Zahjouka. After the death of Hadj Abdesalam Attar his son Bachir Attar continued his father's group's music with The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar. In a break from Morocco between 1974 and 1978 to pursue his painting career, Hamri published his Tales of Joujouka.

1990s to 2000

On his return to Morocco Hamri built a new house in Zahjouka which became a place for the musicians. Using his reputation as an artist he invited them to shows when only he had been invited to exhibit as a painter. In 1991 he brought the group to Italy. In 1992, Hamri participated in The Here to Go Show in Dublin, Ireland. The show, a celebration of William Burroughs, Brion Gysin and the Tangier Beat Scene, was documented in the documentary Destroy all Rational Thought, directed by Joe Ambrose and Frank Rynne. In 1994 Hamri arranged for the Master Musicians of Joujouka the recording of their first CD only release Joujouka Black Eyes. The recording was produced by Frank Rynne under the supervision of Hamri.

Hamri had over fifty exhibitions of his paintings in Morocco, Spain, Lebanon, Canary Islands, Germany, United States, UK and Ireland during his lifetime.

He died in 2000 and is buried in the center of the village, close to the tomb of the local Muslim saint Sidi Ahmed Sheikh. A recent retrospective was held at the Laurence-Arnott Gallery in Tangier. A large collection of his 1950s paintings has recently been discovered in the United States.