COMPOSERS: Peter Danstrup
LABELS: Dacapo
PERFORMER: Peter Danstrup (bass), Mustapha Baqbou (vocals, sentir, qarqaba, t’bal), Emil de Waal (drums), Thomas Duus (drums, qarqaba), Mikkel Nordsø (guitar), Per Gade (guitar), Ole Theill (tabla)
CATALOGUE NO: DCCD 9426
A Scandinavian bassist, guitarist and drummer make their own versions of Arab songs, taking on board singers and a couple of instruments from Marrakesh. Yet in the event the singers rule, and everybody else more or less falls in with them.
The performances are alive and spontaneous, strongly African in feeling – a couple of numbers are not so far removed from contemporary music on the other side of the Sahara. Only a couple of indulgent jazzy guitar breaks and a heavy rock-style number get out of hand, and even they keep up the catchy pace in one of the year’s more surprising successes.