Fangnawa Experience

In an era where collaboration is the key to some of the most exciting musical styles around, some fusions remain surprisingly under-represented. Such a fusion is explored in this album, in which Afro-beat collective Fanga (led by Burkina singer Korbo) and Mâalem (a Gnawa master) Abdallah Guinea and his band Nasse Ejadba from Morocco perform a selection from the former’s 15-year back-catalogue.

Although some similarities can be drawn between Moroccan Sufi Gnawa music and funk-laden Afro-beat, such as their repetitive and insistent backing rhythms, it would seem that the two styles are too different to easily mould into one, and indeed this album seems to prove as much. At its high points, the ensembles gel in a very pleasing manner: in ‘Kononi’ (by far the most effective track on the album), qaraqab (metal castanets), drum kit and congas create a strong percussion section while Hammond organ, guitar and gimbri (bass lute) provide a hypnotic backing for the melodies from Guinea and the Fanga horns. Such highs are, however, somewhat hard to come by. Tracks such as the 14-minute opener ‘Noble Tree’ suffer from sounding more akin to medleys of Afro-beat and Gnawa songs rather than a melding of the two; the Afro-beat not getting a chance to get one dancing, nor the Gnawa being given room to hypnotise with its loping rhythms.

The overriding feeling given is of a fusion that could yield magical fruit if treated carefully, but this album misses that mark somewhat; a sequel may well prove a more intriguing affair.