Saba Sounds

Here's a trio bringing bowed instruments from different lands. Guo Gan unwraps his erhu (a Chinese two-stringed spike fiddle), Zoumana Tereta has a lesser-heard sokou (a one-stringed Malian fiddle) and Richard Bourreau brandishes the conventional violin that's more familiar to most folks. The first pair have contributed regularly to film soundtracks, while the latter was a co-founder of the wonderful French outfit Lo'Jo, who have remained together since 1982. The album, recorded in 2013 and mixed in 2019, is dedicated to Tereta, who sadly departed this existence in 2017.

The threesome commune harmoniously, aided by additional soft electric bass, drums and percussion on most tracks. This rhythm team of two or three players provides a buoyant motion to several tunes, automatically lending an accessible nature. Even when the percussionists are absent, the fiddlers provide their own plucked rhythms. The emphasis of a tune's geographic style-orientation depends on who steps forward (usually also its composer). Yes, there's a New Age-y fusion aspect, but delivered with an acoustic rootsiness. Gan's erhu has a shivery vibrato, via his floating bow, Tereta offers a grainy, crushed-crystal flow, Bourreau sounding quite virginal by comparison. His ‘Tigran’ is a good number for savouring the sleek trialogue, then ‘Wassa-Wassa’ has the fiddlers intertwining different melodic phrases. The Lo'Jo number ‘Cinéma el Mundo’ provides a melancholic closer, a mournful procession with big drum punctuations. The disc booklet unfortunately contains multiple misspellings of artist names.