AKA MOON — Culture Griot (review)

AKA MOON — Culture Griot album cover Album · 2009 · Eclectic Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Sean Trane
Belgium's premium trio is always looking for new adventures, and even if they aren't as prolific as they were a few years back, they can still pleasantly surprise us, as is the case in Cuklture Griot, where they collaborate with the Sissoko clan. The trio always claimed some African influences (their name is linked with Pygmy tribes), even though this writer prefer the Soft Machine tracks on Vol 2 as more descriptive of their music.

The album opens on a confirmed African touch, Western-African (a Griot is a Malian wiseman/shaman) at that and sets the tone for the album. It is sometimes amazing that AM is actually taking a backseat, letting the African group take all of the spotlight on some tracks as if they were powerless to bring something more than African bass and drums, making the second half of the album quite overlong and repetitive. AM is still very much there as can be heard on the superb Aka Teri Ya (Amitié), where they really shine, and on Aka Giulia (Giulia), where the trio is meddling completely with the Black Machine. If the first five tracks are quite enjoyable and even a bit of a novelty, the surprise effect slowly disappears and leaves a sensation of just more-of-the-same. Obviously the trio is out to show all of the subtleties of West-African music, but my poor under-developed European ears (since AM is always busy telling us that others do music soooooo much better) are simply not able to do so, or simply don't care. If Galland almost disappears in the African rhythms , Hatzi's bass often shines and is more audible. Cassol's interventions are always appropriate, but obviously he must wait for the right moments, which come numerous enough to make it interesting still for him.

One idea would be to play the album starting from track 5 to maybe give the latter pieces a better chance to shine as would probably Aka Folo Folo (Auparavant). But as the album unfolds, the mood remains a bit too much the same throughout a duration on an hour+. Overall, the trio manages a fine album, one that will grace their lengthy discography filled with ethnic experimentations, where this .
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Taylor Ho Bynum, Jacqueline Kerrod : Simple Ways Such Self Jazz Related Improv/Composition
TAYLOR HO BYNUM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Sanyas Hard Bop
STEVE TURRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Pianohooligan : Critique of Swing in Two Parts, Pts. 1 & 2 Third Stream
PIOTR ORZECHOWSKI (PIANOHOOLIGAN)
Buy this album from MMA partners
Jason Stein, Marilyn Crispell, Damon Smith, Adam Shead : Spi​-​raling Horn Avant-Garde Jazz
JASON STEIN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Utopia Jazz Related Improv/Composition
OLIVER LUTZ
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Stablemates
RON BLAKE
js· 1 day ago
Critique of Swing in Two Parts, Pt. 1
PIOTR ORZECHOWSKI (PIANOHOOLIGAN)
js· 1 day ago
FULL ALBUM - Oliver Lutz - Utopia w/ Leif Berger, Constantin Krahmer
OLIVER LUTZ
js· 2 days ago
Lift
DAVE WILSON (US/NZ)
js· 4 days ago
Nature is a Mother
CHARLIE PYNE
js· 4 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed