| Blues-Rock, Jazz |
A Scorching Summer Soundtrack, Softened by the Brilliance of Nguyên Lê
Few things are as difficult, or as delicate, as reviewing a recording that features a close friend. The task becomes all the more daunting when that friend is as prodigiously gifted and forward-thinking as guitarist Nguyên Lê. But integrity compels the pen onward, and in the case of Gnawa World Blues, the latest album featuring Moroccan master Majid Bekkas, Vietnamese-French guitar visionary Nguyên Lê, and legendary American drummer Hamid Drake, there is simply too much to say, too much to feel, and too much to celebrate to let any potential bias stand in the way.
This album is unlike most of what one associates with Lê, though that statement is in itself paradoxical, given how deftly he slides between musical cultures like a seasoned polyglot. Gnawa World Blues, which translates as “roots”, draws heavily from blues and rock, but these aren’t the clean-cut, polished iterations one might expect. This is music with the grit of sun-scorched asphalt, with the earthy pulse of ancient grooves and the raw power of deeply lived stories. And it is softened, illuminated, and transformed by Lê’s incandescent guitar work, which brings both elegance and electricity to every moment.
For those unfamiliar with Majid Bekkas, this album may come as a luminous revelation. A stalwart of the Gnawa tradition, the deeply spiritual, rhythm-driven musical culture of Morocco’s Black communities, Bekkas has long been a bridge-builder between African heritage and the expansive improvisational language of jazz. His collaborations read like a hall of fame: Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Joachim Kühn, and the Magic Spirit Quartet, whose recordings on the ACT label beautifully unite Nordic and African sensibilities.
Here, Bekkas joins forces with Lê and Hamid Drake, and the result is nothing short of transcontinental alchemy. Together, they offer a concert program that becomes a sonic voyage: desert blues soaked in trance, Gnawa chants steeped in groove, psychedelic rock of the 1960s reimagined with meditative precision, and moments of Far Eastern serenity that seem to hover just beyond time.
The opening track, “Ascending Dragon,” is poetry made music, contemplative, shimmering, almost prayer-like. From there, the trio plunges into a searing rendition of John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom,” a blues so visceral it feels more blues than blues itself. And yet, just when the texture threatens to fray into chaos, Lê’s crystalline phrasing cuts through like a thread of silk, guiding the listener back into balance.
And that is the miracle of this live recording: its elegance lies in its refusal to be pinned down. It is at once sparse and saturated. On one end, there is the rawness of a basement jam; on the other, the sophistication of a studio album. The performance breathes with the spontaneity of the stage, and yet the production is so meticulous, so warm and expansive, that one might be forgiven for thinking this was a carefully layered studio project. It is not. It is live. And it is among the most masterfully produced live albums of the year.
Hamid Drake, a native of Chicago whose rhythmic instincts have graced recordings by Don Cherry, Peter Brötzmann, and even Melba Moore, is nothing short of a revelation. His playing on Gnawa World Blues is not merely percussive, it is architectural. He builds spaces, opens portals, and channels ancestral memory with every beat. Alongside him, Lê plays not just as a soloist but as a sculptor of sound, shaping harmonies with one hand while conjuring sonic mirages with the other. Bekkas, meanwhile, is the soul of the project, singing with fervor, plucking his guembri with fire, and radiating the spiritual gravitas that anchors the entire performance.
Their take on “Purple Haze” is both homage and reinvention, a psychedelic storm led by Bekkas’s hypnotic vocals, with Lê and Drake filling every corner of the space with an almost martial intensity, until the track breaks open and lets the listener breathe again with the following piece, “Tair.” It’s that ebb and flow, the push to the brink and the gift of release, that defines this album.
And make no mistake: Gnawa World Blues is not a genre album. It is a refusal to be categorized. In a summer already teeming with Cuban jazz releases vying for the limelight, this project cuts through the noise not by raising its voice, but by deepening its resonance. It is a reminder that musical excellence doesn’t always shout; sometimes, it sings in tongues.
Albums like Gnawa World Blues don’t come around often. It is a journey worth taking, a collaboration born not just of skill but of spirit, and perhaps above all, of a shared belief that music, at its best, transcends borders, languages, and histories. It roots us in something deeper.
And with friends like these, it soars.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, May 22nd 2025
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Musicians :
Majid Bekkas – guembri, oud & vocals
Nguyên Lê – guitar & backing vocals
Hamid Drake – drums
Tracklist :
01 Gorée Blues (Majid Bekkas) 08:02
02 Mrahba (Traditional) 05:04
03 Boom Boom (John Lee Hooker) 07:29
04 Ascending Dragon (Nguyên Lê & Majid Bekkas) 09:07 05 Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix) 06:10
06 Tair (Majid Bekkas) 08:03
07 Sidi Bouganga (Traditional, arr. Majid Bekkas) 05:45