Hive Mind Records is a new label that is set to shine a bright light on contemporary and vintage sounds from North Africa and the Middle East.
For its first release the label founder Marc Teare sets the bar high with Colours of the Night the last studio recording from the late, great Maalem Mahmoud Gania. This is the first time the recordings see their release outside of Morocco.
Maalem Mahmoud Gania was one of Morocco’s most famous Gnawa musicians. Gnawa is a musical and spiritual tradition originating in sub-Saharan Africa that has survived as a subculture within Moroccan society for centuries. The roots of the blues can be heard in its hypnotic rhythms.
Born in 1951 and brought up in the coastal city of Essaouira, Mahmoud was raised in one of the country’s great Gnawa families. A well-respected singer and master guimbri player renowned for his command of the Gnawa songbook, he became one of Morocco’s most prolific recording musicians.
From the 1970s until his death in 2015 he released many albums for a variety of local labels including Tichkaphone, La Voix El Maaraf and Sonya Disques, as well as recording with Western musicians such as Pharoah Sanders, Peter Brotzmann, and most recently James Holden and Floating Points.
Listen to deeply enchanting “Ba Yourki” below.
Tracklisting:
A1. Sadati Houma El Bouhala
A2. Shaba Kouria
B1. Bala Matinba
B2. Amara Mousseye
C1. Foulani
C2. Sidi Sma Ya Boulandi
D1. Ba Yourki
D2. Mrahba Baba Hamouda
