The mystical Sufi music of the Moroccan Gnawa people has long been a source of fascination for jazz musicians attracted by the intense sounds of the guimbri bass lute and qaraqab metal castanets and the bluesy cries of the singers. Collaborations were never going to be far away.
This reissue of this 1994 album sees avant-garde jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders jamming with legendary Gnawa master Mahmoud Ghania, overseen by producer Bill Laswell. For a meeting of three indisputable leaders in their fields, I came to this album expecting to be blown away. Instead I feel like I’ve been left hanging. Each element is wonderful in its own right: the sound of Ghania and his ensemble is powerful and intoxicating, and Sanders explores the boundaries of saxophone technique. Together, though, it feels as if there is little connection. The styles sit on top of each other without really blending. They don’t clash, but they don’t particularly complement either.
The most effective collaboration on the album is actually on the track ‘Hamdouchi’, where Sanders plays with Aissawa musicians led by Abdelkabir Addabachi. Here, Sanders’ wailing sax integrates with five-piece shawm-and-drum ensemble in the way that it doesn’t with the Gnawa musicians, giving a possible glimpse into what could have been.