Songlines Review Feb 2013

Posted on: 18/11/2012

Songlines Review Feb 2013

European guitar maestro gives African influences full rein

David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet once speculated on what Beethoven’s works might have sounded like if he’d
been able to hear African music. It’s a fascinating question because in this global age, musicians of every stripe and in every genre have been able to absorb African influences and in each case their music has been dramatically enriched by it. The latest example is the Italian guitarist and composer Antonio Forcione, whose artistry has previously spanned folk, rock, jazz, Latin and a variety of fusion projects. His latest album incorporates West African and southern African styles.
All but two of the eight tracks are instrumental and feature Forcione’s virtuoso acoustic guitar complemented by cello, double bass, flugelhorn and African ornamentation by the likes of Seckou Keita on kora (harp-lute) and Juldeh Camara
on the single-string ritti. The result is a mellifluous, acoustic African jazz hybrid in which finely honed composition rather than open-ended jamming is the order of the day, characterised by skilful and precise ensemble playing. Best of all, perhaps, are the tracks that most overtly channel the rhythms of southern Africa, particularly the lovely ‘Madiba’s Jive’ and ‘The Song
For Zimbabwe’, which features the striking voice of Chiwonizo Maraire. It could easily have come out sounding like easy-listening global muzak, but there’s a dynamism that prevents it from ever doing so, enhanced by the inspired production of former Rolling Stones’ producer Chris Kimsey.

TRACK TO TRY: Madiba’s Jive

Nigel Williamson