Making Tracks 2024 - Grand Junction, Paddington, London

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 203, December 2024.



Making Tracks 2024
Grand Junction, Paddington, London
3rd October 2024

Now on its fifth edition, Making Tracks is one of those not-to-be-missed occasions once autumn rolls around. Eight young artists, each from a different musical world, get together for two weeks of concerted collaboration, which continues to evolve across a two-week tour. This year featured participants from the UK, Syria/Germany, Denmark, Kenya, East Turkestan and Finland (see makingtracksmusic.org/fellows for the full list; they deserve more recognition than space allows here!).

For this tour’s penultimate concert at London’s Grand Junction, we were treated to two-and-a-half hours of unique collaborations interspersed with solo showcases from each musician. All eight remained on stage throughout, and it was always exciting to see who would stir to join in the next piece – will it be a medley of Newfoundland, Uyghur and Swedish songs? A composition for Arabic violin and tama (talking drum)? Hurdy-gurdy and Kenyan drums? It’s impressive just how accomplished these musical relationships were after such a short – albeit intense – gestation. Interspecies connections were also emphasised this year, with nature embraced as an equal participant, from transcriptions of whalesong to electronically-wrangled biosignals of sea-kale. The high, intricately decorated Victorian church ceilings of Grand Junction afforded interesting reverberations, highlighting acoustic elements that would have been lost in a less cavernous venue – a lovely marriage of sound and space.

Making Tracks has hit upon a winning formula, for the creation of both beautiful music, and lasting artistic partnerships. In his opening speech, director Merlyn Driver referred to the concert as “nourishing music” – this really is the sort of project that can achieve meaningful new musical directions.


Photo: Making Tracks 2024 at Grand Junction, by Andrea Terzuoli. L-R: Nina Harries, Anna McLuckie, Shohret Nur, Christian Mohr Levisen, Kasiva Mutua, Ossi Raippalinna, Ayman Hlal (Helen Anahita Wilson is obscured behind Hlal).

Maalem Houssam Guinia - Dead of Night

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 203, December 2024.

Maalem Houssam Guinia
Dead of Night
Hive Mind Records (43 mins)

The renowned master of Moroccan Gnawa music, Mahmoud Guinia, died in 2015; this album by his son Houssam serves as a loving tribute, recalling the songs Houssam heard and learnt at his father’s knee as a child. Aptly recorded through late night into the early morning hours in his Casablanca home, Dead of Night is personal and deeply intimate. There’s none of the customary clattering of the metal krakeb castanets or even the chorus of fellow Gnawis; instead, a relaxed Houssam sings solo, accompanying himself with the bluesy thrum of the gimbri (bass lute). It’s a different listening experience from the Gnawa’s Sufi rituals, but it allows for a closer concentration on the beauty of the melodic lines and Guinia’s soft, slightly rasping voice. While for a non-initiate, there may be little variation between each song, it’s a lovely, meditative set that captures Gnawa music in a way less often heard.