trio Majid Bekkas - Ngûyen Lê - Hamid Drake

Three continents, three citizens of the musical world. The Moroccan Majid Bekkas, the Franco-Vietnamese Nguyên Lê and the American Hamid Drake have combined their astonishing musicality, their backgrounds and their international experiences to create a captivating programme of live concerts blending desert blues, Gnawa trance, Middle Eastern jazz, 1960s rock and Far Eastern serenity.

Vocals, oud and guembri (bass lute)… electric guitar with shimmering and varied tones… percussion ranging from subtlety to physicality: these are the instruments employed here by three remarkable, internationally renowned globetrotting musicians… Majid Bekkas’s innovations have shed new light on the fascinating music and culture of Morocco’s Gnawa minority. He has also collaborated with jazz greats such as Joachim Kühn, Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders, and more recently with the Magic Spirit Quartet, whose recordings for ACT have built a bridge between Nordic and African soundscapes. Among the greatest guitarists of our time, Nguyên Lê stands out as one of the most exciting and distinctive figures, having developed a unique style in which Southeast Asian melodies, complex jazz harmonies and virtuoso forays into rock blend naturally. Born in Chicago, Hamid Drake, with his intuitive feel for numerous world percussion traditions and his experience of varied collaborations ranging from Don Cherry to Peter Brötzmann and Melba Moore, offers an incredibly wide range of rhythmic impulses.

The repertoire that the three musicians performed so memorably on 10 November 2024 reflects a wealth of ideas that blend and merge. The opening track, ‘Gore Blues’, is a contemplative blues melody played in unison by the oud and vocals over a strummed guitar… followed by a lively five-note ‘trialogue’ between the lute, electric guitar and delicate cymbal work. Then, with ‘Mrahba’, the trio enters the world of traditional Gnawa music: Lê and Drake create a rock-infused, funky atmosphere, whilst Bekkas’s powerful incantations over a driving bass riff induce a trance-like state. ‘Boom Boom’, a tribute to John Lee Hooker, takes off like a heavy, rolling yet organic blues machine; the way Bekkas breaks free from his roots here is simply astounding. ‘Ascending Dragon’ offers a meditative interlude… thumb-style piano… a melody hummed with care, with Nguyên Lê adorning the melodic line with brio. Then, as a light-hearted antidote, Bekkas, Lê and Drake perform Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’, initially staying very close to the original, before the new middle section evokes the legendary guitarist’s journey to the Gnawa stronghold of Essaouira in July 1969. ‘Tair’ begins as a free improvisation on the oud, which then sparks interaction between the two masters of the strings. And in the finale, ‘Sidi Bouganga’, the trio sets the joyful side of the Gnawa language alight with an exuberant, almost hymn-like tone.

Three exceptional musicians have drawn inspiration from their musical heritage to create a breathtakingly vibrant celebration of human kinship.

New album on ACT, summer 2025