Saha Gnawa

Saha Gnawa’s self-titled debut fuses Moroccan ritual with the restlessness of New York’s jazz underground. Led by Maalem Hassan Ben Jaafar – a master of the Gnawa guembri and heir to Fes’ storied tradition – and drummer Daniel Freedman, the ensemble translates the trance logic of lila ceremonies into a global, improvisational idiom. Recorded after months of late-night sessions in Bed-Stuy’s LunAtico, the album summons ancestral spirits through layered rhythm and modernised texture. ‘Soudani Manayou’ opens with swirling guembri and qraqebs, Nels Cline’s guitar streaking across the mix like heat lightning. ‘Bacha Hamou’ burns with red-tinged intensity while ‘Negshah’ stretches into cosmic overdrive with Donny McCaslin’s sax tracing spirals through the air. It’s a communion between tradition and circuitry with the music moving in forward-motion.