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African exotica Exploring the roots of jazz and blues
For The Prague Post Feb. 24, 2005 By the time you hear the third or fourth note in one of Majid Bekkas' Gnawa melodies, you will be thinking about Africa. However, Gnawa music is not from the West African region it so powerfully evokes. Hundreds of years ago, Gnawa musicians were thumbing the same sinewy, signature melodic rhythms in Morocco. When Bekkas' ancestors were brought as slaves across the Sahara to North Africa, they would evoke their homeland in all-night Gnawa sessions. Bekkas has further stirred the mix of musical influences with doses of jazz and blues, playing with the likes of Peter Brotzmann, Archie Shepp and Flavio Boltro. A recognized Gnawa master in his native Morocco, he has also received considerable European recognition. In 2004 Bekkas was given the Gold Django Award, usually reserved for jazz musicians, by the French Association of Arts and Culture. Asked what it's like to play with jazz and blues pros, Bekkas says, "When I play with these guys, I feel free, because all of us feel free. We play one music and we speak one language. When we open up, we can play anything. Especially when I played with Archie Shepp, I felt I was playing my [Gnawa] music." The North African musical environment is strikingly diverse, encompassing forms such as Gnawa, Berber tribal music, Al-Andalus Euro-Judeo-Arabic court music, Arabic classical music and the popular Algerian-Parisian music known as Rai. In the middle of all this are innumerable regional and national variations, with radios blasting pop music from Egypt, Lebanon and beyond. Moroccans have made this world even more interesting by actively pursuing Western musical tastes. "In Morocco we have everything," says Bekkas. "Since I was little I listened to Albert King, B.B. King, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Otis Redding and so on. We hear everything; we even hear country [C & W] music now."
On Bekkas' African Gnawa Blues CD, he begins with a call: "Gnaui music/I got it in my mind/These African Blues/I got it in my soul," and over the next 10 tracks he artfully proves his claim. The music summons up visions of a Malian oasis while simultaneously giving nod to the Americas, with Bekkas' jazz and blues inflections always packaged in a spellbinding Gnawa envelope. Bekkas' premiere Prague concert has the promise of being evocative to those who know Gnawa, a treat for fans of world music and a revelation to anyone who's ever wondered about the origins of jazz and blues and their many derivatives. Bekkas shows a wide palette, performing on the oud (Arabic lute), guitar and kalimba (African thumb piano) as well as the traditional guimbri (Moroccan bass guitar). Asked how he can effectively master such a wide range of instruments, Bekkas offers a reply as telling of his music as of his life: "I play them in my way. I've tuned them for Gnawa." Darrell Jonsson can be reached at features@praguepost.com
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