Trance, ritual, mysticism, psychedelia, magic...however one chooses to describe the way that North-African 'gnawa' music affects people, there can be no denying the fascination for it which reaches right across the world. Morrocan gimbri-player and singer Majid Bekkas is one of it's most dazzling figures, and also probably the musician who has made this music interact with other genres. Now, with Magic Spirit Quartet, he has built a bridge connecting North Africa and Northern Europe, aligning the ancestral with the ambient. An inspired move which seems to catch the very spirit of 21st century jazz.
Trance, ritual, mysticism, psychedelia, magic...however one chooses to describe the way that gnawa music affects people, there can be no denying the fascination for it which reaches right across the world. And Majid Bekkas, one of the most dazzling exponents of modern gnawa is also probably the musician who has managed to find the most varied and interesting ways to make this music interact with other genres. Now, with Magic Spirit Quartet, he has had taken the boldly imaginative step of building a bridge to connect North Africa and Scandinavia, to align the ancestral with the ambient. It is an inspired move which seems to catch the very spirit of 21st century jazz.The origins of gnawa have never been fully explained, and that hint of darkness in its very distant past adds to its mystique. The Gnawa ethnic group were probably trafficke...
line upMajid Bekkas / vocals, guembri, oud & electric guitar
Goran Kajfeš / trumpet, electric trumpet & percussion
Jesper Nordenström / piano, organ, synthesizers & spinet piano
Stefan Pasborg / drums, percussion & tuned gongs
Cover art by Sonia Delaunay: Tango Magic City, 1913 © Pracusa 20190305
Recorded by Thomas Vang at The Village Recording Studio in Copenhagen, July 12 &13, 2018 and at Stureparken Studio, Stockholm
Chaouki Gnaoua family, backing vocals and qarqabou on 01 & 03, recorded at MB Studio in Sale, Morocco.
Mixed by Johannes Berglund
Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann
Produced by Magic Spirit Quartet