FANGNAWA EXPERIENCE by FANGA & MAALEM ABDALLAH GUINEA

A unique fusion of Afrobeat and Moroccan Gnawa music from respected French Afro collective Fanga and leading Moroccan maâlem (Gnawa master), Abdallah Guinéa with his band Nasse Ejadba. Tip!Curated by the excellent, forward-thinking Détours du Monde festival in Montpelier, France during 2011 in association with Nueva Onda, the collaboration re-interprets Fanga classics, cherry-picking tracks from their 15-year career. "Our objective from the sessions was not so much to create an entirely new flow but more to bring the real Gnawa sound and trance feeling to some of our songs - we wanted to make the songs work so neither group's sound was compromised. For us, it was also a human and cultural meeting. We represent two continents but also two ways of thinking and two completely different styles of life." The two styles prove to be naturally compatible throughout. Leading out front on the tracks, Burkina Fasso-born Fanga bandleader Korbo and Guinéa share lead vocal duties. Guinéa builds his trademark 'Fusion Trance' through spiritual evocations, rolling, hypnotic rhythms and gimbri melodies while, by turn, Korbo serves up food for reflection, touching on the right to be different and promoting harmony between man and nature whilst denouncing the social injustices that result from an economic system out of control and designed to benefit the few. Rich, thought-provoking and effortlessly funky, 'Fangnawa Experience' is an ambitious piece of work and another significant chapter in the open-minded and cross-cultural climate for modern world music.