Majid Bekkas

Majid Bekkas

Known in Morocco as „the magician of encounters“, Majid Bekkas developed and orchestrated with brio a new dialogue between musical diasporas during the recording of „Makenba“, his third album for IglooMondo. Once again, Bekkas brought together musicians of different cultures whose roots lie deep within the Africa continent: through gnawa and Malian music and the choice of instruments.

The dialogue is one of perfect harmony between the Arabic ‚ud and the African balafon of Aly Keita, the ntama talking drum of Joseph Bessam Kouassi that brings a voodoo touch, and the Argentinean bombo (tambour) played by Minino Garay. Garay turned to traditional Argentinean music such as the Chachera, Zamba and Cueca, that can be traced back to Berber and Arabic cultures, the result of a thousand-year colonization. With his sharp sense of rythm, Louis Sclavis, –  whose path crossed Bekkas‘ a long time ago and is happy to wander through different musical territories, –  makes the whole swing with his sax and clarinet.

The success of this blend, far from being artificial or opportunistic, lies in the excellent complicity of all these world musicians that have had the opportunity to perform together in different situations.

NGUYÊN  LÊ

Guitars, Composer, Producer, Sound Magic

  “  A  deep-minded  musician, filled  with  mystery,       

whose  playing  is  never  meaningless “ (Télérama )

       Nguyên Lê is a masterful, inventive player who has cultivated a wholly unique voice on the intsrument,  he ranks right up there with Frisell, John Scofield, Mike Stern & Allan Holdsworth in the post Hendrix world of jazz guitar

        Bill Milkowski, Jazztimes (USA)

         Born in Paris from vietnamese parents, he began to play drums at the age of 15, then took up guitar & electric bass. After  graduating in Visual Arts, he majored in Philosophy, writing a thesis on Exoticism. Then he devoted to music, creating „ULTRAMARINE“(1983), a multi-ethnic band whose CD „DÉ“  has been considered „1989’s best World Music album“ Philippe Conrath,  Libération.

         Nguyên LE is a self-taught musician, with a wide scope of interests: Rock & Funk (Jim Cuomo, Madagascar tour 84), Jazz standards & contemporary Jazz (bass player with Marc Ducret,  guitar player with Eric Barret), Improvised Music (Yves Robert),  Singers (Ray Charles), Contemporary Music (André Almuro, Tona Scherchen, Marius Constant, Mauricio Kagel), Ethnic Music: African & Caribbean with ULTRAMARINE , Algerian with Safy Boutella & Cheb Mami, Indian with Kakoli, Turkish with Kudsi Erguner, Vietnamese  with  his „Dan Bau“ (traditional one-stringed instrument) teacher Truong Tang.

         In sept. 87  he was chosen by director Antoine Hervé to play with  the O. N. J.  (French  National  Jazz Orchestra). Within this big band, he played with such musicians as Johnny Griffin, Louis Sclavis, Didier Lockwood, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Randy Brecker, Toots Thielemans, Courtney Pine, Steve Lacy, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gil Evans, Quincy Jones. Nguyên LE’s work also deals with programming synthetizers, effects & computers as well as writing orchestral pieces : „PROCESSOR“  composed, arranged & recorded on CD „O.N.J. 87“ & „LUNIK II“ co-arranged with  Dominique Borker & performed by the O.N.J. 1989.

         In sept. 89 he records ULTRAMARINE’s 2nd album „DÉ“  &, in may 90,  his  first album as  a leader : “ MIRACLES“  recorded in the U.S.A. with Art LANDE, Marc JOHNSON & Peter ERSKINE. At the same time he works with such musicians as Michel Portal,  Miroslav Vitous, Trilok Gurtu, J. F. Jenny Clarke, Aldo Romano, Daniel Humair, Dewey Redman, Andy Emler, Jon Christensen, Nana Vasconcelos, Glenn Ferris, Christof Lauer, Paolo Fresu, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor …

          In may 92, after a month tour with Paul McCANDLESS on winds, Art Lande (p), Dean Johnson (b) & Joël Allouche (d), he records his 2nd album ZANZIBAR, which gets the « ffff » award by Télérama. In Jan. 93 he records „INIT„, a trio with André Ceccarelli, François Moutin & guest Bob Berg, while setting up a new band on the music of Jimi Hendrix, w/ Corin Curschellas (voc), Steve Argüelles (d), Richard Bona (b). Since Jan. 93 he’s been a frequent guest soloist of Köln’s WDR Big band,  especially with composer/director Vince MENDOZA. Nguyên Lê plays on three of his projects : „Jazzpaña„, „Sketches“ w/ Dave LIEBMAN, Charlie MARIANO, Peter Erskine, & „Downtown„,  w/ Russell Ferrante. In April 94 he’s the guest soloist of „The  New Yorker„,  a suite by Bob BROOKMEYER, with Dieter Ilg (b) & Danny Gottlieb (d). With these two musicians he set his first trio, & recorded „MILLION WAVES“ in dec. 94 . About this CD, Télérama writes : „This trio brings him to some musical spaces which he had not even imagined, & which are pure poetry„.

         In the meantime, he’s playing in trio with Michel Benita(b) & Peter Erskine, recording on Michel Portal’s new album with Ralph TOWNER (g), & working with Ornette COLEMAN on one of his contemporary music pieces, „Freedom Statue“. In June 95 he’s invited by WDR BigBand in „Azure Moon“, with the YELLOWJACKETS & Vince Mendoza. In July 95, in Stuttgart Festival, he’s one of the guest guitar players to celebrate the „Universe of Jimi Hendrix“, besides Trilok Gurtu, Terry BOZZIO, Cassandra WILSON, Jack BRUCE, Vernon REID, David TORN, Victor BAILEY, Pharoah SANDERS… Recently he has been playing with John McLaughlin, Michel Petrucianni, Markus Stockhausen, Enrico Rava, Ray Anderson, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Dave Douglas, Wolfgang Pushnig, Uri Caine…

         In April 96, Nguyên Lê creates „Tales from Viêt-Nam„, a project on Vietnamese music, with a 8-piece band blending jazz & traditional musicians. With stage director P. J. San Bartolomé, he starts “ Of the Moon & the Wind „, a complete show where traditional & contemporary vietnamese dancers are integrated to the „Tales from Viêt-Nam“ orchestra. The CD has received a great welcoming from international critics : Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Choc of Year 1996 Jazzman, 2nd best CD 96 for JAZZTHING (Germany), Best CD 96 on radio TRS 2 (CH), „a minor masterpiece“ JAZZTIMES (USA).

        On 4/97 Nguyên Lê releases his 5th CD, “ 3 Trios„, with Marc Johnson/ Peter Erskine, Dieter Ilg/ Danny Gottlieb & Renaud Garçia Fons/ Mino Cinelu. JAZZIZ Magazine USA says : « At times, jazz guitar can sound staid – but not in the case of N. Lê. He’s forever breaking boundaries for our benefit ». He has recorded 2 Cds with Paolo Fresu’s quartet : « Angel » (2/98) & « Metamorfosi » (4/99). On 5/98, 6th N. Lê record : « Maghreb & Friends », an exploration of Maghreb musical traditions & a deep collaboration with Algerian musicians. « Far from a false world music, N. Lê simply touches, with force & intensity, to universality » F. Medioni. N. Lê produced the 1rst CD of Huong Thanh, « Moon & Wind », entirely done in his home studio. He also has been nominated for the « Victoires de la Musique 1999 » award. His last CD, « BAKIDA », based on his regular trio with Renaud Garçia Fons (b) & Tino di Geraldo (perc, dr) plus guests from all over the world like Kudsi Erguner, Chris Potter, Carlos Benavent… This CD has been voted „best jazz album of the year“ by „CD Compact“ (Spain). ELB, a new trio CD has just been recorded in Rainbow studios, Oslo, with Peter Erskine & Michel Benita. He’s touring with Terri Lyne Carrington’s band, with Geri Allen, Matt Garrison & Gary Thomas & plays with Maria Schneider. Sept 2002 : 2nd CD of Huong Thanh « Dragonfly ». In June 2002 he’s invited by the Metropole Orchestra (NL) to play his music arranged by Vince Mendoza. « Purple », an album celebrating Jimi Hendrix is released in sept 2002. In sept 2002 it’s n° 1 on the charts of UK magazine „Jazzwise“. Today it’s N. Lê’s most successful album, with 20 500 CD sales & non stop touring all over the world. „Mangustao„, Huong Thanh’s 3rd album, released in jan. 2004, is awarded as „Choc de la Musique“ by French magazine „Le Monde de la Musique“. In March 2005 release of „Walking on the Tiger’s Tail„, new album with his great friends Art Lande, Paul McCandless & Jamey Haddad “A universe where the alliance between acoustic  and electric, improvisation and writing, inner delicacy and virtuosic expressivity reach the ideal balance.”(Le Monde).

       Several projects were built in 2006 : the score writing of „Le Sheitan“, a movie by Kim Chapiron with Vincent Cassel, & « Homescape », a very electronic, improvised & mystical recording in duo with Paolo Fresu & Dhafer Youssef, all done at home, #1 in « Jazzwise » april 2006 charts; the score for the Vietnamese movie „Saigon Eclipse“ by Othello Khanh; the recording of „Mozart“ last Uri Caine’s album; a 13-gig tour in USA with „Tiger’s Tail“ quartet, thanks to a CMA/FACE grant; two „classical“ compositions commissioned by the Ahn Trio & the Laguna Beach Fest in LA. Nguyên Lê was unanimously awarded as the guitar „Django d’Or“ 2006.

    In 2007, after tours in US & China, he releases „Fragile Beauty“, the 4th album with Huong Thanh «Simply an album that captures the heart from the first note and leaves it hungering for more as the last one fades» (All That Jazz). In 2008 he records „The Othello Syndrome“ for Uri Caine, „Blauklang“ for Vince Mendoza’s & also « Dream Flight » a new ELB album, with guest Stéphane Guillaume on sax. A new album  comes out in oct 2009: SAIYUKI, an asian trio with Mieko Miyazaki (koto) & Prabhu Edouard (tablas) & special guest Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute). As a sound engineer he mixes Dhafer’s Youssef new album «Abu Nawas Rhapsody». «Signature Edition», a double-CD album showing 20 years of music creation has been released by ACT in march 2010. For the 2nd time Nguyên Lê is the recipient of the CMA/FACE grant which help the «Saiyuki inviting Rudresh Mahanthappa» project to tour in US in the fall 2010.

     In Jan. 2011 he is awarded by the rank of «Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts & des Lettres» by French Cultural minister. «Ting Ning», excerpt from «Tales from Viet-Nam» (1996) is selected between only 4 european artists in the 6-CD compendium «Jazz: the Simthsonian Anthology». The new album «Songs of Freedom», released in april 2011, is an exotic & eccentric reading of Pop hits from the 70’s with Illya Amar, Linley Marthe, St. Galland & guests Youn Sun Nah, David Linx, Dhafer Youssef, Ousman Danedjo a.o. It has received a fantastic welcoming from international press & is on top jazz charts of Itunes & Amazon. N. Lê is part of «Nights on Earth», Vince Mendoza’s last album. He took part of the 1rst International Jazz Day celebration at Unesco with Herbie Hancock.

      In 2013 he produces the album «Doc Dao» for & with Hanoian singer Tung Duong, with which he receives 3 awards in Vietnam : «Best Song of the Year», «Man of the year» & «Best Show of the Year». In 2014 he releases «Celebrating the Dark Side of the Moon», a very personal version of the famous Pink Floyd’s album, with the NDR Bigband, Youn Sun Nah, Gary Husband & Michael Gibbs’ orchestrations. „An ambitious, uplifting & frequently exhilarating project“ All About Jazz; „The album persuaded me to forget the original“ The Telegraph; „a disconcerting & magnificent originality“ RTL „Choc de l’Année 2014“ Jazzmag; „Not to be missed for any reason“ ENA…

Hamid Drake

Hamid Drake was born in 1955 in Monroe, Louisiana, and his family moved to Evanston, Illinois when he was a child, just as an older musician from Monroe named Fred Anderson also moved to Evanston, with his family. Hamid started playing with local rock and R&B bands, which eventually brought him to Fred Anderson‘s attention.

Drake worked with Anderson from 1974 to 2010 including on Anderson‘s 1979 The Missing Link. At Fred Anderson’s workshops, a young Hamid met Douglas Ewart, George Lewis and other members of Chicago‘s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).

Another of the most significant percussion influences on Drake, Ed Blackwell, dates from this period. Hamid‘s flowing rhythmic expressions and interest in the roots of the music drew like~minded musicians together into a performance and educational collective named the  Mandingo Griot Society, which combined traditional African music and narrative with distinctly American influences. Career. Don Cherry, who Drake first met in 1978, was another continuing collaborator. After meeting Don Cherry, Hamid and fellow percussionist Adam Rudolph travelled with Don to Europe, where they explored the interior landscape of percussion and shared deeply in Mr. Cherry‘s grasp of music‘s spiritually infinite transformational possibilities. Drake worked extensively with him from 1978 until Cherry‘s death in 1995.

Drake was one of the founders, along with Foday Musa Suso and  Adam Rudolph, of The Mandingo Griot Society. His other frequent collaborators include New York bassist William Parker,  saxophonist David Murray,  composer and percussionistAdam Rudolph, German free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and drummer Michael Zerang. Drake performing with Iva Bittová in Moscow in January 2014.

Now touring and recording all over the world and in constant demand everywhere, Hamid Drake has played and/or recorded with Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Herbie Hancock, Archie Shepp, William Parker (in a large number of lineups), Reggie Workman, Yusef Lateef, Wayne Shorter, Bill Laswell, David Murray, Joe Morris, Evan Parker, Peter Brotzmann, Jim Pepper, Roy Campbella, Sabir Mateen, Rob Brown, Marilyn Crispell, Johnny Dyani, Dewey Redman, Joe McPhee, Adam Rudolph, Hassan Hakmoun, Joseph Jarman, George Lewis, John Tchicai, Iva Bittová and almost all the members of the AACM. These diverse artists all play in a broad range of musical settings which allows Drake to comfortably adapt to north and west African and Indian impulses as well as reggae and Latin. Although engaged as sideman, he is also devoting his energies and creativity as a band leader; focusing on his own groups and projects such as Bindu or Indigo Trio.

Drake has frequently appeared with jazz legend Archie Shepp in various configurations. The most common is the group Phat Jam along with human beat boxer and rapper Napoleon Maddox. Drake also works with Maddox in the jazz hip hop group ISWHAT?!. Drake performs with European jazz groups, recording with Hungarian musicians such as Viktor Tóth and Mihály Dresch, also releasing projects with Polish saxophonist Mat Walerian. In addition to the drum set, Drake performs on the frame drum, the tabla, and other hand drums.