Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XVII: Gnawa World Blues Majid Bekkas, Nguyên Lê, Hamid Drake

• 1 Gorée Blues 08:02
• 2 Mrahba 05:04
• 3 Boom Boom 07:29
• 4 Ascending Dragon 09:06
• 5 Purple Haze 06:10
• 6 Tair 08:03
• 7 Sidi Bouganga 05:45
• Total Runtime 49:39

Info for Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XVII: Gnawa World Blues

Three continents, three musical world citizens. Morocco-born Majid Bekkas, Franco-Vietnamese Nguyên Lê and American Hamid Drake have combined their astonishing musicality, their origins and their global experiences to create a captivating live concert programme encompassing desert blues, Gnawa trance, Middle Eastern jazz, sixties rock and Far Eastern serenity.

Voice, oud and guembri (bass lute)...electric guitar with a wide spectrum of shimmering timbres...a percussion arsenal between subtlety and physicality – these are the tools deployed here by three remarkable, world-class, globe-trotting protagonists... Majid Bekkas's innovations have cast a wholly new light onto the fascinating music and culture of the Gnawa minority in Morocco, and he has also worked with jazz greats such as Joachim Kühn, Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders, and, most recently, with the Magic Spirit Quartet, whose recordings for ACT have built a bridge between Nordic and African sound worlds. Among the very great guitarists of our time, Nguyên Lê stands out as one of the most exciting and individual personalities, having developed a unique style in which Southeast Asian melodies, complex jazz harmonies and highly virtuoso excursions into rock naturally co-exist. Chicago-born Hamid Drake, with his intuitive feel for many of the world’s percussion traditions and his background of varied collaborations from Don Cherry over Peter Brötzmann to Melba Moore, provides an improbably wide range of rhythmic impulses.

The repertoire which the three performed so memorably on 10 November 2024 reflects a tremendous wealth of ideas which fuse and coalesce. The opening track ‘Gore Blues has a reflective blues melody played in unison by oud and voice over a strumming guitar... then we hear an animated, five-note ‘trialogue’ between lute, electric guitar and delicate cymbal work. Then, with ‘Mrahba’, the trio enters the realm of traditional Gnawa music: here are Lê and Drake creating a rocky, funky mood, while Bekkas’s powerful incantations over a rearing bass riff create a trance. ‘Boom Boom’ - in tribute to John Lee Hooker - gets going like a heavy, rolling, yet organic blues machine – the way in which Bekkas breaks away from his roots here is utterly astonishing. 'Ascending Dragon' offers a meditative interlude... thumb piano… a melody thoughtfully hummed, Nguyên Lê ornamenting the melodic line brilliantly. Then, as a high-spirited antidote to this, Bekkas, Lê and Drake interpret Jimi Hendrix's ‘Purple Haze’, initially very close to the original, before the new middle section recalls the guitar hero's journey to the Gnawa stronghold of Essaouira in July 1969. ‘Tair’ starts as a free oud improvisation, which then stimulates the interplay of the two string masters. And in the finale “Sidi Bouganga”, the trio ignites the joyful side of the Gnawa language with a hymn-like, exuberant tone.

Three stellar musicians have drawn on their musical heritages – and created a celebration of human kinship which is breathtakingly alive.

Majid Bekkas, guembri, oud, vocals
Nguyên Lê, guitar, backing vocals
Hamid Drake, drums

Recorded live at Philharmonie Berlin on November 10, 2024
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Majid Bekkas
Born in Morocco, the world-renowned musician combines traditional North African music styles such as gnawa with jazz and blues. As a multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his playing on the guembri, a traditional stringed instrument, and has made Moroccan music internationally famous. He has collaborated with renowned jazz musicians such as Joachim Kühn, Achie Shepp and Nguyen Le and has released albums that showcase his unique fusion of cultures. Bekka's music is characterised by spiritual depth and rhythmic diversity, which he draws from his Gnawa tradition. With his innovative approach, he is recognised as one of the leading exponents of world music and a bridge builder between Africa and the rest of the world.

Nguyên Lê
The Paris-born son of Vietnamese immigrants is an outstanding guitarist and composer who has made a name for himself with his innovative fusion of jazz and traditional Vietnamese music. His music seamlessly blends Western jazz harmonies with Eastern melodies and rhythms, resulting in his unique, global sound. Lê has collaborated with many artists and released numerous albums that showcase his versatility and ability for musical fusion. As an innovator in the field of world music and jazz, he has received several awards and is a sought-after musician on international stages. Nguyên Lê's artistic work is known for its depth, complexity and ability to combine different cultures and musical traditions into a musical whole.

Hamid Drake
is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. He lives in Chicago, IL but spends a great deal of time touring worldwide. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and avant improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Drake has collaborated extensively with top free-jazz improvisers. Drake also has performed world music; by the late 70s, he was a member of Foday Musa Suso’s Mandingo Griot Society and has played reggae throughout his career.

Drake has worked with trumpeter Don Cherry, pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonists Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Archie Shepp and David Murray and bassists Reggie Workman and William Parker (in a large number of lineups).

"[Drake's] mastery of pulse drumming, textural sculpting, hand drum techniques, reggae, funk and garage punk makes him one of the most articulate and linguistically advanced musicians on the circuit… Cecil Taylor once claimed that each man is his own academy. If that's the case, Drake is surely one of the mystery schools." - David Keenan, The WIRE

Booklet for Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XVII: Gnawa World Blues