Label: ACT, 2023
Personnel - Peter Brotzmann: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Majid Bekkas: guembri, voice; Hamid Drake: drums, percussion.
The late German saxophonist Peter Brotzmann, who left us on June 22nd at the age of 82, was at the wheel of numerous free jazz outings over the course of a rich six-decade career. His last recordings - An Eternal Reminder of Not Today (with the experimental rock outfit Oxbow) and Naked Nudes (with cellist Fredrik Lonberg-Holm and pedal steel guitarist Heather Leigh) are worthy musical journeys, as well as this entirely improvised live recording, Catching Ghosts, a culture-blending trio effort with Moroccan guembri player and vocalist Majid Bekkas and American drummer Hamid Drake.
Brotzmann was open to exploring new territories on every session, and the threesome here frame their distinct sounds into an offbeat hybrid fusion of gnawa songs and free jazz. The program, recorded live at Jazzfest Berlin 2022, offers four free-flowing and unrehearsed gnawa traditional pieces that, following consistent textural palettes, are galvanized by the driving force of Brotzmann’s saxophone playing. The opener, “Chalaba”, blazes the trail. The two-stringed, camel-skin-backed guembri can sound like a bass in the lower registers, soon establishing a sextuple time groove while having clean cymbal scintillation by its side. The saxophone clamors find space between phrases, entering this dance arena with either growling intensity or hoarse moaning, yet invariably with class and personality.
The following three pieces were included on Bekkas’ 2002 album African Gnaoua Blues. “Mawama” appears here with strong hi-hat pulsation and snare activity, putting more emphasis on the vocals than the sax; the 14-minute “Hamdouchia” presents a 10-beat cycle groove, having Brotzmann - in all his fiery, subversive and provocative style - responding to Bakkas’ voice; and “Balini”, both propulsive and airy, features Brotzmann’s whining clarinet prayers over rhythmic interlocking patterns generated by Bekkas and Drake.
These musicians take chances, each serving the material with musical passion and care. This is a wonderful goodbye from Brotzmann, a force of nature who will be deeply missed by all free jazzers.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Chalaba ► 03 - Hamdouchia