Search - Moroccan Spirit, The Brave :: Moroccan Spirit

Great intro to African and Middle East Music for Westerners

Atheen M. Wilson | Mpls, MN United States | 06/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having lived briefly in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia, I came to have an appreciation for Middle Eastern music. In particular, I found something "missing" when I returned, namely the five daily prayer calls that gave both countries a profound flavor of the exotic--from my own perspective, anyway--and my experience the sense of one of daring and excitement. Moroccan Spirit provides the listener with a feeling of "being there" while respecting some of the tonal appreciations of the Western ear. In essence it captures the modern popular and ancient folk music of Africa and the Middle East and combines them into a recording that is still pleasing to a Western audience. While the music doesn't quite sound like it's "off key" or "falling through the cracks in the scale" as the music heard in Egypt and Saudia, it still has enough of the exotic so that those listeners who are a little more traditional in their music tastes may not like it. On the other hand, those with Middle Eastern or African backgrounds themselves, may find it panders too much to Western tastes in music and is less "genuine" than they prefer their music. For the adventurous, though, it's a good first exposure to a musical genre that we don't often get to hear."

A little too sanitized for me I'm afraid.

Junglies | Morrisville, NC United States | 07/06/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I once read a book by a man who literally walked across the Sahara Desert. I was so transfixed by his account that I could not put the book down until I had finished it and I was extremely tired by the time I went to school the next morning. His tale inspired me so much that I wanted to know as much as I could about deserts in particular and in the North African area in general. When I went to University to read economics one of my areas of specialization was in Development Economics which illustrates the impact that his book made upon me.Another great interest in my life has been what is now considered to be 'world music'. American readers may be aware of the WOMAD festival which has been held in England for at least thirty years devoted to this area. Mickey Hart, recently of the Grateful Dead, has done a wonderful service in bringing to western attention musiciansfrom other cultures and has allowed them to earn a degree of recognition which would have otherwise not been afforded. Peter Gabriel has provided a similar service in England along with the fanatical Andy Kershaw who was a prophet in the wilderness for so many years, but no longer.This album is a little disappointing for all of the effort that has gone into it. It is a very pleasant album and very nice to listen too and certainly incorporates some good playing. I especially like the attemp to fuse the dance/techno thing to help make it more palatable to western ears. The trouble is that it ends up, to my ears anyway as a sort of nicey-nice new age type of sound with too much pandering to innocuous western tastes. Repeated listenings at home and in the car have not led to a reappraisal of that position.May I suggest a remix?"

Music for 1001 Nights

Clarissa | Ontario, California | 01/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I completely agree with Faithe Arden's review. Upon first listening I thought Moroccan Spirit to be a true disappointment but after listening to it a couple more times it really grew on me. The album opens up with "Music For 1001 Nights" which is a bleak, haunting instrumental that captures the Moroccan essence to chilling perfection. More upbeat tunes ensue however with modern beats mixed in with the traditional to help enhance and elevate this otherwise contemplative piece of work. After Nadja Grapi "Ishran" awes and stuns everyone with the amazing "Derviche" though, which is also laden with drums and beats that are sure to get you grooving up from your chair, the tempo does a complete turn-around and becomes slow with meditative simplicities that are gorgeous and great to relax to! The Brave, who also created Sacred Spirit, Indigo Spirit, B-Tribe and Rose Moore has won me over again with his newest addition to the Higher Octave label for he truly has succeeded in capturing the sound and the spirit of the Moroccan people and I highly recommend it to fans of chill out world/dance music."