Review Summary: Intricate yet still accessible world music, with fantastic percussion and authentic grooves.
In American society, world music is easily the most underappreciated genre of all genres. Most of American popular music comes from North American or Western Europe, but there is plenty of music being made and released from Asia, Africa, and other continents with strange instruments that no one since George Harrison with his sitar has regularly used in popular music. Even so, the sitar is just one of many instruments including the tabla, the kora, and the didgeridoo. One man who broke the boundaries of this ethnic, “Eastern” music and the Western music prominent in American society is Trilok Gurtu, a percussionist with as much experience in jazz as in world music. Although in recent years he has played mostly world music, with mostly Indian and African influence, Gurtu has a history with Don Cherry, John McLaughlin, and Pat Metheny. For this album, he traveled to Africa to record his first album entirely on that continent, with the help of the Frikyiwa Family.
World music experts, of which I am not, made a big point to mention that this is Trilok’s first album recorded entirely in Africa. However, those same experts noticed that Farakala has an abundant Indian influence, especially in the rhythms; it seems that Trilok cannot abandon his roots completely. Still, the Frikyiwa Family provides all the melody and their West African style is the most prominent idea here. The Frikyiwas provide African guitars and stringed instruments, including lutes, vocals, and extra percussion to aid Gurtu. They are extremely talented, providing intricate instrumentals and beautiful, trance-inducing vocals from both men and women. They play what is known as Malian blues. While it sounds very little like the Western blues, the soulful feel of the music remains the same. The melodies of
Roots No Fruits are very Western, maybe a hinted at by the English title. Still, the instruments make it authentically African. This music is completely new to the Western musical world, although it maintains a few jazzy customs to provide a sense of listenability and accessibility to the album.
The accessibility this album, even with its otherworldly sound, stands out immediately. Each song settles in its own groove, usually laid back and intricate with multiple percussive instruments. The songs never deviate from those grooves and they don’t need to; every song is incredibly intricate with their own melodies and surprisingly catchy vocal melodies. Even if one has no idea what the vocalists are saying, their melodies and styles are aesthetically pleasing and perfect. Gurtu’s percussive arrangements are absolutely fantastic, incorporating all aspects of percussion, from deep basses to accented mid-range congas and djembes to high pitched atmospheric instruments. He often puts in a shaker or some sort of repetitive instrument to lay down a sixteenth note groove and help it settle in. His time and feel on each instrument are flawless. Strangely, his grooves are so accessible that they are at points danceable. Album opener
Agne Yano is one of those, with a more uptempo and catchy female vocals. The drums are the main instrumental focus, with the stringed instruments only adding to the rhythmic intricacy of the song.
Gurtu’s expansive, genre-bending, and certainly remarkable career makes a sort of capitulation and blend with Farakala. Although recorded in Africa, a new environment for him, the recording style paid homage to his jazz days. The album was recorded in two sessions of one-off takes, which makes the album all the more remarkable. The rhythmic and melodic intricacies of the album are absolutely fantastic. Farakala is an album for anyone who wants to expand their musical horizons and listen to something fresh. It is definitely accessible and still a brand new sound.
