Download - Downbeat

confection, Davis peppered the set with lighterfare, including “Relax Max,” a cha-cha-chá thatsinger Dee Alexander delievered with irresistiblecharisma. The versatile Alexander subsequentlyturned the mood on its heels with an evocativerendition of Miriam Makeba’s “Little Boy.”Actress T’keyah Crystal Keymah interspersedwith poignant excerpts from Mandela’s memoirs,including key phrases repeated for dramaticeffect. During his time in captivity on RobbenIsland, Mandela was permitted one letter everysix months and spent time in solitary confinement.“Prisoner 466/64” evoked the dull clamorof hammers on rock, recalling the forced laborMandela endured and the deadening torpor ofthese years of containment, with low tones fromthe sousaphone, bass clarinet, tuba and timpani.—Michael JacksonAmerican, North AfricanMusical Bonds Forgedat Festival GnaouaJaleel Shaw(left) withGnawamusiciansSUZAN JENKINSThe Festival Gnaoua in Essaouira, Morocco, is aspectacle of hypnotic music, brilliant colorpalettes and teeming humanity. At its core it celebratesthe music of the Gnawa brotherhood,spirit music purveyors whose sound is driven bythe pulsating bass ranged, three-stringed, camelskinnedguimbre plucked and drummed by theinvited Maalems (or masters). The Gnawa shareancestral lineage with African Americans andhave encouraged joyous musical partnershipsfrom the time Randy Weston first becameimmersed in Gnawa music in the late 1960s tothe Wayne Shorter Quartet’s eager absorption atthis year’s festival—the 11th annual installment—whichran from June 26–29.With the festival, the tranquil Atlantic coastaltown of Essaouira, a haven of Gnawa life, welcomesnearly a half-million festival revelers tothe free event every year. The festival invitesmusicians and the occasional band from theWest, sub-Saharan Africa and other parts ofMorocco to interact with the Gnawa musicianson its two main stages and after-hours acousticsets, and their spirit-centered, trance-inducingmusic dominates the proceedings. Shorter’sgroup and alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw proudlyrepresented the ancestral African developmentknown as jazz, bringing deep wells of that sensibilityto the tranquil cadence of life in Essaouirathat explodes during Gnawa festival weekend.Shorter’s quartet delivered cunninglyimplied, circular and freely plumbed themes andgrooves, all imagined through the prism of atelepathic band relationship. Bassist JohnPatitucci at one point instigated a wicked tango,drawing a huge smile of encouragement fromdrummer Brian Blade, slashing then tastefullydownshifting the traps alongside. Pianist DaniloPérez grew ever more assertive as the set wendedits way onward. Then the Gnawa musiciansentered to the eager anticipation of the group,particularly the rhythm section, which had plottedits fusion course earlier over savory taginesand couscous at lunch. Before long Shorterfound his place, blowing short phrases amidstthe insistent rhythms that engulfed and clearlybemused him.The next evening Shaw, who had beenenthralled by their vibe, stepped up for somebrotherly dialogue with Malian ngoni playerBassekou Kouyate’s band. Just when it felt as ifthe venue, Place Moulay Hassan, couldn’t beuplifted any higher, Maleem Mahmoud Ghania,one of the pillars of Gnawa music, upped theante. As the huge throng hung onto his mightyguimbre and baritone chants, Guinea paced hiseight percussionists, chanters and acrobaticdancers through a staggering set that left manywrung out from ecstasy. Then he invitedKouyate and Shaw back out for a brilliant finalcall to the spirits of their ancestors.—Willard JenkinsNovember 2008 DOWNBEAT 25