COMPOSERS: Hamid ‘El Gnawi’ Faraji
LABELS: Erato Detour
PERFORMER: Hamid ‘El Gnawi’ Faraji (vocal, gembri)
CATALOGUE NO: 3984-29055-2
HAMID ‘EL GNAWI’ FARAJI appears to be doing the reverse as he backs his ferocious vibrant vocals with a tremulous Sixties-type jazz organ and some funky programming effects as well as the plucked gembri and the chanting choral responses.
But these influences are Africanised, filtered across the continent. Once you get used to the time-warp feel of the mix this is as lean, light and intense as modern Muslim music ever was, a more intimate counterpart to the Orchestre National de Barbès across the Med.