Kadialy Kouyate & Leonard Jacome - Rhythms of the Atlantic

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 108, June 2015.

Kadialy Kouyate & Leonard Jacome
Rhythms of the Atlantic
Self-released (42 mins)

The premise of this album may seem a little familiar: a cross-cultural harp collaboration between Senegalese kora maestro Kadialy Kouyate and Venezuelan harpist Leonard Jacome. It’s unfortunate but inevitable that any work will now be compared to Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita’s stunning 2013 release Clychau Dibon, but don’t make the mistake of thinking this album will be the-same-but-different.

Whereas the earlier fusion revelled in the ethereal qualities of the instruments, Kouyate and Jacome use theirs to groove. The harp’s lower register provides often funky basslines that, along with the unobtrusive calabash of Mamadou Sarr, give the Mandé griot and Venezuelan Joropo melodies the ground to dance on.

Most of the pieces here are written by Kouyate (save for the cheerful ‘Kora Ralencina’ and the harp solo ‘Solo con mis Cuerdas’, both by Jacome), and it is the Venezuelan’s harp that provides many of the thicker textures and most versatile timbres – at various times sounding like a harpsichord, jazz guitar or glockenspiel – but really, to analyse each musician’s individual role feels a little disingenuous, so tightly do the two string players intertwine.

This is a great and different album – don’t be fooled into making easy comparisons.

Kala Jula (Samba Diabaté & Vincent Zanetti) - Sangoyi

First published in fRoots issue 384, June 2015

Kala Jula (Samba Diabaté & Vincent Zanetti)
Sangoyi
Buda Musique (55 mins)

This collaboration between Malian griot guitarist Diabaté and Swiss multi-instrumentalist Zanetti is now in its fourth year, and with Sangoyi, bears its second album – the first as a strict duo.

Zanetti has worked with Sahelian music for nearly thirty years, in both West Africa and Europe, setting up a collaborative ballet along the way, and calls the Mandé lands his adopted home. This doesn’t necessarily come across in his music.

Most of the tracks contained here are unfortunately bland. Although the fusion of Malian and Western styles is pulled off quite smoothly, it doesn’t feel as if either particularly benefit from it: the music of the Mandé griots is reduced by the soft-rock folk, but the European's music doesn’t feel as if it could stand on its own, either.

When they hit into a groove, as they do in the track ‘Le Lion de Ségou’ (where they’re joined by trumpeter Yannick Barman), it seems amazing that they can keep the track from spiralling into an epic jam. It’s a little disappointing that they don’t, as these tracks finish leaving the listener wanting more.

The fact is that the majority of this album is just boring – sedate and calm enough to perhaps work well as background music, but reveals very little substance under any scrutiny…and this is even more of a shame as it containing one or two genuinely enjoyable and interesting tracks.

Manuel Diogo - Music of Angola

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 108, June 2015.

Manuel Diogo
Music of Angola
ARC Music (50 mins)

Manuel Diogo’s style is described as ‘traditional and contemporary Angolan gospel music’. In practice, this means that recognisable gospel sounds (from the harmonies of African choirs to modern R’n’B-inspired crooning) are mixed with Angolan dance music such as semba and rebita as well as with folk styles and a liberal dose of reggae here and there. The overall feel of the album is happy and light-hearted. It is very cheesy, but often endearingly so, with Casio-esque synths and drum machines aplenty, and matters of God at the forefront of most tracks.

The album has a bit of a wobble just before the end – a couple of unoriginal and uninspired international-gospel tracks with some dubious tunings – before the last track of the set gets back to form and back to Angola with a bright and soukous-like jive.

The liner notes are a little vague on whether Diogo is leading a group here or whether it’s more of a one-man-band sort of operation, but the music he creates is as unpretentious as you can get – unashamedly sunny music from a man who knows what he likes singing about.

Zomba Prison Project - I Have No Everything Here

First published in fRoots issue 383, May 2015

Zomba Prison Project
I Have No Everything Here
Six Degrees Records (31 mins)

This is a rather hard album to write about, as the quality of the music is not necessarily its main focus. It features 20 recordings made inside the Zomba Maximum Security Prison in Malawi, where most people are held for life, their ‘crimes’ ranging from murder to witchcraft, and where children born within the walls must remain until their mother’s release. But in their music, their status as prisoners (or, on occasion, prison officers) seems less significant: the album is a document of ordinary people, singing their own songs. Some sing gospel, some repentances, warnings, stories; some are guitarists, bassists or drummers. The music and song on offer here is of an understandably varying quality – these are by and large not musicians, but people brought together and surviving together.

As the whole album only comes in at a little over 30 minutes long, there are quite a few very short tracks here, and many fade out, leaving one wanting for the full piece. A stand-out example of this is the intense, all-female percussion track ‘House of the Dance’: it’s a shame that we only get to hear 16 seconds of it, especially as six hours of material were recorded altogether.

This collection brings to mind old ethnomusicological field recordings; they feel very in-the-moment and the recordings seem to exist to preserve the memory of the culture represented. With this, however, there also comes a slight uncomfortable feeling of the ‘higher power’ of the neutral (Western) producer. The material was recorded and produced by Ian Brennan, who does seem to have a knack for finding projects with world-music-friendly ‘stories’ (he’s also produced the Malawi Mouse Boys and the Good Ones) but this album does have the chance of achieving change. Resulting funds and awareness from this release are already helping those of Zomba Prison, as three women have already been released and three more having their sentences reviewed as a result.

Mohamed Abozekry & Heejaz Extended - Ring Road

First published in fRoots issue 383, May 2015

Mohamed Abozekry & Heejaz Extended
Ring Road
Full Rhizome/Jazz Village (75 mins)

Born in Egypt and living in France, the young oud player Mohamed Abozekry is not content to play only the traditional repertoire of his instrument. Instead, with the rest of his quintet Heejaz Extended – saxophones, piano, double bass and hand-percussion – he uses his instrument to initiate a whirlwind of international jazz.

All in all, the ensemble takes as much influence from Indian music as it does Arabic, Abozekry’s oud even resembling a sarod on occasion. There’s also elements from around the world: a couple of pieces are based on Cuban grooves; Ethiopian scales sneak their way into the occasional solo; and a qawwali-esque harmonium illuminates the second track, ‘Messages’.

Through all this, the one thing that remains a constant is the jazz. The styles that come to mind on the album are those of the classic late-50s/early-60s masters. You can hear Miles Davis in the harmonies, Horace Silver in the melodies and a haunting of John Coltrane throughout. Whether in the driving energy of a head or a quiet but tense, ballad-like section, the legacies of the masters come before feel respected and palpable.

Although the album is made up solely of Abozekry’s wonderful compositions and with his name on the front of the cover, it’s not his oud that takes precedence on this album; all the instrumentalists are involved in an equal way. This lets the group rid itself of the often-mishandled ‘fusion’ label and allows the music to be what it is – exciting jazz that is expertly crafted, well-executed and that will take your ears on a trip around the world.

Dorsaf Hamdani - Barbara Fairouz

First published in fRoots issue 382, April 2015

Dorsaf Hamdani
Barbara Fairouz
Accords Croisés (61 mins)

It’s a brave person who takes on the repertoires of two legendary artists, especially when they are from such different styles as Lebanese singer Fairouz and French chanteuse Barbara. Here, Dorsaf Hamdani is that person.

The liner notes to the disc imagine the album as a fictional meeting between the French and Lebanese singers, and that’s basically a perfect description of the music within. The tracks alternate between the French and Arabic, and, at the beginning of the album, sound close to the original styles. As the tracks and the ‘meeting’ progress, however, each style begins to seep into the other until, by the end, each piece presents a beautiful fusion, an Arabic chanson.

Hamdani trained to sing malouf music from her native Tunisia, but has expertise in many styles from around the Arabic world as well as French, Persian and jazz music, all of which give her the skills to work her voice around, through and between the songs and styles of her heroes with ease.

Credit should also go to the project’s musical director. Daniel Mille leads the musicians – a quartet of guitar/oud, violin/oud, percussion and himself on accordion – through the same journey as Hamdani, slowly bringing the Arab influences to the French, and the French to the Arabic in a subtle, sympathetic and accomplished manner.

It is when the styles blend that Hamdani and her musicians create their best music, and the musical creation of a hypothetical meeting between Barbara and Fairuz is what makes this album more artistic and musically interesting than just a set of covers.

The Khoury Project - Revelation

First published in fRoots issue 382, April 2015

The Khoury Project
Revelation
Enja Records (64 mins)

Over the past year or so, there has been a real glut of great Middle Eastern/North African jazz albums – recent records by Hijaz, Majid Bekkas Trio and L’Hijâz’Car have set the bar high. Now, Revelation by the Khoury Project can join their ranks.

The core members of the ensemble are the Jordanian Brothers Khoury – Basil, Osama and Elia – who bring violin, qanun and oud, respectively. For this project they are joined by double bass and jazz and Arabic percussion.

The elegance of the Khoury Project’s compositions is evident from the off, with the imaginatively-titled opener 'Intro' an intricate qanun solo with Arabic melody above complex chords that bring to mind ballad-jazz pianists. As the album continues, the group’s nuance becomes apparent: all the core elements of Arabic classical music and jazz are retained, meaning that their combination with each other seems so natural that at times one can forget that the traditions are from opposite sides of the world.

There are also other themes explored throughout the album, with a couple of pieces reflecting flamenco (especially their version of Paco de Lucía’s 'Zyryab', recorded live in Paris), and these additional influences are handled with ease. It’s a difficulty to pick a highlight from this record, the pieces are consistent and all seem to have equal value to the album as a whole.

Is there something about Arabic music or jazz that make their fusions so often successful? It just seems to work. Take nothing away from these musicians though: it is a combination that requires knowledge of many musical languages as well as virtuosity, and Revelation is another great example of this.