patrick brennan,

sudani,

deep dish DD-104

Alto sax player Patrick Brennan follws the path of such notable improvisers as Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders in collaborating with Moroccan musicians, but the results are mixed with only the extended opening performance “Marhaba ya Marhaba” reflecting the ecstatic call and response patterns that make the communal music of Northwest Africa such a unique and enriching experience. Brennan does not join in until relatively late in this fourteen minute performance. Elsewhere he is a dominant presence, exploring a freely improvised high energy hybrid that could just as well have been recorded on the lower East side as in two small villages close to the coastal region of Essaoiuira, renowned as a spiritual centre of Moroccan music. While Brennan engages multiphonics with evident gusto in the driving upbeat circular motif of “in the Tagine...” and his a cappella solo showcase “the wind and Najib,” the real points of interest here are two call-and-response blues variations “Timarmalia Blues” and... “with Ma’Abud Allah” and the rhythmic interplay between between Brennan and the drummers during “...Greasin” and the strident “T’bal’N’Tumble” where Brennan’s abrasive split-tone multiphonics are delivered with real passion, but ultimately the little magic here is intermittent. I guess you just had to be there.

David Lewis, Cadence Magazine, January 2001, page 119