Colours of the Night
Hive Mind Records (71 mins)
The sacred Sufi trance music of the Moroccan Gnawa people is one of the great traditions of the African continent. Before his death in 2015, maalem (ceremonial master) Mahmoud Gania brought Gnawa music to new heights and new audiences, including collaborations with jazz and rock musicians. Colours of the Night was his final recording, made in 2013, and here he goes back to the roots.
The performances are, unsurprisingly, top-notch. Accompanied by the unmistakable bluesy sounds of his gimbri (bass lute) and the polyrhythmic krakeb (metal castanets) of his chorus, Gania’s aged but powerful voice reaches high to call down the spirits of the West African Fulbe, Bamana and Hausa from whom the Gnawa descend. With simple and effective production, Gania and his troupe give listeners a glimpse of the heady energy of a lila (ceremony).
Although this album represents the last hurrah of a master, it is also a herald of the new generation, featuring a then-17-year-old Asmâa Hamzaoui, who is now making waves as Gnawa’s first professional female gimbri player. Colours of the Night is, above all, a fitting swansong for Gania, a musician who did so much for the preservation and advancement of his art and his people.