Hassan Hakmoun at Clark Art Institute, 11/7/98
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. Nov 8, 1998) -- Ancient met modern and they danced together when Hassan Hakmoun performed at the Clark Art Institute on Saturday night.

Building atop the Gnawa tradition of his native Morocco, Hakmoun led his quartet through improvisational excursions of rhythm, melody and counterpoint. The wail of the muezzin met the shimmering flutes of Asia, while the drone of Indian raga supported the pulse of American funk, in a concert that lived up to its billing as "Life Around the World."

Hakmoun's group functioned much like a jazz ensemble, with the leader stating the theme of each number on sintir, a three-stringed African lute that in Hakmoun's hands played percussive bass and melody lines. Hakmoun also sang in a style that crossed the muezzin's circular cries with Bob Marley's rich, soulful tones.

In most numbers, Hakmoun began with a repetitive ostinato pattern, which would be answered by keyboardist Jamshied Sharifi. Hakmoun's brother Sayeed interspersed rhythms, backup vocals and foot percussion -- a kind of precursor of American tap -- while playing the qarkabeb, large metal castanets. Ron McBee completed the foursome with an array of drums and percussion instruments, and the total effect was at times symphonic in impact.

Most tunes explored the emotional variations of Hakmoun's ostinatos, with Sharifi's flute-like electronic keyboards lending the material a contemporary, ethereal, at times new-agey feeling, and with the percussionists adding a wide range of dynamics.

But it was really Hakmoun's show from top to bottom. He surprised with the expressive range of technique on his three-stringed, organic instrument, and the sheer force of his personality guided his bandmates and the audience through the paces of his spiritual explorations. He threw himself into his improvisations -- which also included acrobatic dance and several stints on drums -- with physical as well as emotional abandon, occasionally sinking down into the floor as the music became more intimate and personal.

While Hakmoun was a warm frontman, one wished he had said just a bit more about some of his pieces: not to lecture, but simply to provide some context or meaning on which a listener could hang his focus.

Otherwise, concertgoers were treated to the equivalent of a world-class jazz master and his spirited ensemble. They even got to help him sing "Happy Birthday" to his drummer. It was a rare, exciting night of music that crossed boundaries of time, space, language and culture and went directly to a listener's soul.