SOUNDTRACK: HASSAN HAKMOUN-“Balili (My Father)” (Field Recordings, June 11, 2014).
I didn’t know Hassan Hakmoun, but he is one of many West African musicians whose music I have come to really enjoy. I absolutely love this song.
Hassan Hakmoun’s music is very much rooted in his homeland. Born in Marrakesh, he is from the Gnawa community, whose ancestors were brought from West Africa to North Africa as slaves in the 15th and 16th centuries. Gnawan music and dance, which are central to their spiritual tradition, fuse Muslim mysticism with sub-Saharan traditions in rituals meant to heal the body and lift the soul.
This Field Recording [On a Magical Mystery Tour with Hassan Hakmoun] has a different component to it–it is (so far) unlike any other one.
When we plan Field Recordings, we usually look far and wide to find off-the-beaten-path locations for filming musicians. But a unique opportunity presented itself when a duo called Wanderlust Projects — designers of “transgressive placemaking experiences” for urban explorers, usually in abandoned or otherwise places — invited us to come along on an adventure.
Wanderlust invited a crew of intrepid New Yorkers to accompany the fabulous Moroccan musician Hassan Hakmoun and his band on a mysterious day trip. So we piled into a van with the musicians, and off we all went to points unknown. After a long morning being driven to our secret destination — with no one but the organizers knowing where we were heading — we arrived upstate at the stunning Widow Jane Mine.
Along with providing spectacular visuals, the mine proved to be an oddly fitting location for Hakmoun and his musicians. The Widow Jane is a limestone mine that once supplied cement for such landmarks as the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the U.S. Capitol. Hakmoun’s music has found its fullest flower in New York with a highly transnational lineup of nomads.
The song opens with Hakmoun playing a fast riff on his instrument. I cannot believe that they don;t say what it is–is it homemade? is there one string or more? how does he get such a great sound out of fit?).
He starts playing what will be the song’s main riff–a cool fast melody with some counterpoint loud notes. The percussionist sings along , the flutist plays a solo of sorts and then after about a minute, the drums kick in and the song just rocks.
His band includes
Percussionist Chikako Iwahori is originally from Japan; guitarist Raja Kassis hails from Beirut; flutist Bailo Bah comes from Guinea; and drummer Harvey Wirht is from Suriname.
The sound is incredible. Whether the caves enhance the music is unclear, but it sounds wonderful there. The song is about 8 minutes long. There’s not a lot to it–the riff is repeated almost throughout, but there are great variations throughout. The flute solo, the guitar solo or when he starts stomping his feet on the limestone while wearing bells on his ankles–it adds a great new component to the music.
This is just fantastic.
[READ: January 19, 2018] “Sprawl”
This is an excerpt from Dutton’s novel Sprawl (getting a reprint in 2018).
It’s a little hard to tell what the novel is about from this excerpt but I loved the whole take on suburbia that the export displays.
The excerpt is full of letters, presumably written by the same person (it’s unstated).
The first one is to Mrs Barbauld and is designed as a re-orientation to the neighborhood. It is a bit confusing so I’m moving on.
The narrator is talking to us, I suppose as if setting the ultimate example: (more…)
I Just Read About That... 