Catching Ghosts

Peter Brötzmann is a graduate of the 1960s free jazz movement, who plays saxophone clarinet and the Eastern European tárogató. He's known for a powerful, relentless style, different to the more nuanced, variegated style of peers such as Archie Shepp. He has also been a prolific recording artist and collaborator – serendipitously, one of his relatively gentle efforts is titled Songlines (1994).

This new, live recording is his second with gimbri, voice and drums, following 2020's The Catch of a Ghost with Maâlem Mokhtar Gania in the role taken here by Majid Bekkas (what is it with gimbris and ghosts?).

The four tracks here are all traditional Moroccan Gnawa pieces. They follow a pattern where passages of Bekkas’ inimitable voice and gimbri are interspersed with reed-blowing by Brötzmann. All the while, Hamid Drake provides varied percussive patterns, although the sound of his clean kit jars slightly with the rawness of the others. Now in his 80s, Brötzmann has lost some of his power, but this seems to contribute to a more thoughtful, subtler approach, where he doesn't overwhelm everything else around him. An interesting combination, but one that won't be to everyone's tastes.