Recorded live in Casablanca after dark, 'Dead of Night' is the debut solo full-length from James Holden collaborator Maalem Houssam Guinia, who sings passionately and plays guimbri, putting his own spin on deep Moroccan Gnawa music.
Few musicians know Gnawa as intimately as Maalem Houssam Guinia. The son of Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, one of the form's most recognisable figures, who worked with Bill Laswell and Pharoah Sanders on his best-known album 'The Trance of Seven Colors', Houssam has been absorbing these songs since he was born. 'Dead of Night' is a dedication to his father (who passed in 2015), and the memory Houssam has of Mahmoud playing each of these pieces all through the night when he was very young. And to capture the same mood, Houssam recorded the album (with producer Karl-Erik Enkelmann) in a single session late at night, using just a Tascam field recorder and two microphones.
It's intimate material; Houssam's guimbri is recorded close so we get to hear its softness and the unusual tonalities, but his voice is even more expressive as he recants his father's Gnawa favorites. There's no additional percussion or backing vocals, just seven transcendent recitations that sound like a quiet one-on-one with Houssam and his memories.
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Recorded live in Casablanca after dark, 'Dead of Night' is the debut solo full-length from James Holden collaborator Maalem Houssam Guinia, who sings passionately and plays guimbri, putting his own spin on deep Moroccan Gnawa music.
Few musicians know Gnawa as intimately as Maalem Houssam Guinia. The son of Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, one of the form's most recognisable figures, who worked with Bill Laswell and Pharoah Sanders on his best-known album 'The Trance of Seven Colors', Houssam has been absorbing these songs since he was born. 'Dead of Night' is a dedication to his father (who passed in 2015), and the memory Houssam has of Mahmoud playing each of these pieces all through the night when he was very young. And to capture the same mood, Houssam recorded the album (with producer Karl-Erik Enkelmann) in a single session late at night, using just a Tascam field recorder and two microphones.
It's intimate material; Houssam's guimbri is recorded close so we get to hear its softness and the unusual tonalities, but his voice is even more expressive as he recants his father's Gnawa favorites. There's no additional percussion or backing vocals, just seven transcendent recitations that sound like a quiet one-on-one with Houssam and his memories.
Recorded live in Casablanca after dark, 'Dead of Night' is the debut solo full-length from James Holden collaborator Maalem Houssam Guinia, who sings passionately and plays guimbri, putting his own spin on deep Moroccan Gnawa music.
Few musicians know Gnawa as intimately as Maalem Houssam Guinia. The son of Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, one of the form's most recognisable figures, who worked with Bill Laswell and Pharoah Sanders on his best-known album 'The Trance of Seven Colors', Houssam has been absorbing these songs since he was born. 'Dead of Night' is a dedication to his father (who passed in 2015), and the memory Houssam has of Mahmoud playing each of these pieces all through the night when he was very young. And to capture the same mood, Houssam recorded the album (with producer Karl-Erik Enkelmann) in a single session late at night, using just a Tascam field recorder and two microphones.
It's intimate material; Houssam's guimbri is recorded close so we get to hear its softness and the unusual tonalities, but his voice is even more expressive as he recants his father's Gnawa favorites. There's no additional percussion or backing vocals, just seven transcendent recitations that sound like a quiet one-on-one with Houssam and his memories.
Recorded live in Casablanca after dark, 'Dead of Night' is the debut solo full-length from James Holden collaborator Maalem Houssam Guinia, who sings passionately and plays guimbri, putting his own spin on deep Moroccan Gnawa music.
Few musicians know Gnawa as intimately as Maalem Houssam Guinia. The son of Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, one of the form's most recognisable figures, who worked with Bill Laswell and Pharoah Sanders on his best-known album 'The Trance of Seven Colors', Houssam has been absorbing these songs since he was born. 'Dead of Night' is a dedication to his father (who passed in 2015), and the memory Houssam has of Mahmoud playing each of these pieces all through the night when he was very young. And to capture the same mood, Houssam recorded the album (with producer Karl-Erik Enkelmann) in a single session late at night, using just a Tascam field recorder and two microphones.
It's intimate material; Houssam's guimbri is recorded close so we get to hear its softness and the unusual tonalities, but his voice is even more expressive as he recants his father's Gnawa favorites. There's no additional percussion or backing vocals, just seven transcendent recitations that sound like a quiet one-on-one with Houssam and his memories.
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Recorded live in Casablanca after dark, 'Dead of Night' is the debut solo full-length from James Holden collaborator Maalem Houssam Guinia, who sings passionately and plays guimbri, putting his own spin on deep Moroccan Gnawa music.
Few musicians know Gnawa as intimately as Maalem Houssam Guinia. The son of Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, one of the form's most recognisable figures, who worked with Bill Laswell and Pharoah Sanders on his best-known album 'The Trance of Seven Colors', Houssam has been absorbing these songs since he was born. 'Dead of Night' is a dedication to his father (who passed in 2015), and the memory Houssam has of Mahmoud playing each of these pieces all through the night when he was very young. And to capture the same mood, Houssam recorded the album (with producer Karl-Erik Enkelmann) in a single session late at night, using just a Tascam field recorder and two microphones.
It's intimate material; Houssam's guimbri is recorded close so we get to hear its softness and the unusual tonalities, but his voice is even more expressive as he recants his father's Gnawa favorites. There's no additional percussion or backing vocals, just seven transcendent recitations that sound like a quiet one-on-one with Houssam and his memories.