JD ALLEN - SOWT (DIGIPACK)

Morocco's position at the crossroads of Africa, Europe and the Middle East has given rise to one of the world's richest musical traditions. It was perhaps inevitable that the inquisitive artistry of tenor saxophonist and composer JD Allen would eventually lead him there. Drawn by the hypnotic pulse, spiritual depth and communal spirit of Gnawa music, Allen immersed himself in it's rhythms, it's people and, above all, it's capacity to communicate profound emotion through remarkable musical economy. Those experiences became the catalyst for SÖWT, but inspiration alone does not make compelling music. Back in the studio, Allen and his ensemble transformed what they had absorbed through the disciplines of composition, improvisation and collective listening, creating music that reflects their Moroccan encounters while remaining unmistakably their own. At once direct and mysterious, earthy and transcendent, SÖWT is less an attempt to explain another culture than to engage it in conversation, discovering common ground where tradition, imagination and improvisation meet.

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