Trance
Hassan Hakmoun and his band take the ancient Moroccan musical tradition and update it with an upfront vitality. What results is part of the story of Gnawa which began as a music that spread from West Africa, the Sudan, and the Southern Sahara through centuries of migration until it reached Morocco.
Hassan's music is rooted in his playing of the sintir, the Moroccan three-stringed bass, and many of his songs have the Gnawa's timeless, nomadic quality.
The gift of the Gnawa contains shamanic powers which can heal, dispel evil, and mediate in the spirit world. Through the Gnawa's intervention, the spirits of the ancestors can return to guide, advise and give strength to the living.
Reviews
Black Moroccan Gnawa funk rock, Trance is a world fusion that works
21 April 1994
Press review from: Rolling Stone (USA)
Trance is an eclectic kaleidoscope of rock guitar, dance grooves, jazz improvisations and tribal beat.
19 May 1994
Press review from: Herald Sun (UK)
...this is spiritual, spiky and uncompromisingly modern music with organic roots.
November 1993
Press review from: Vox (UK)
...a wholly convincing hybrid which is one of the best results yet of the world music explosion.
18 December 1993
Press review from: The Daily Telegraph Mirror (UK)
Though there is a rootsy rawness to Hakmouns music, it is swathed in modern dance beats...and psychedelic instrumental excesses from a team of Western musicians...
December 1993
Press review from: Folk Roots (UK)
..Hakmoun conveys authority and passion without ever sounding forced, combining riveting rhythmic attack with gritty, trance-like vocals.
January 1994
Press review from: Top (UK)
Experimental world music for the nineties...
24 September 1993
Press review from: The Guardian (UK)
...there are some nicely crazed moments alongside the more contemplative numbers.
29 August 1993
Press review from: The Observer (UK)
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