• List Price: $15.99  
• Your Price: $15.99
• In Stock: 26

You must login to place orders.




Not purchasing for a business? See our consumer site.

With "On the Edges 1" the cycle of projects starts out beyond the European cultural sphere, on the opposite side of the Mediterranean Sea, in a cooperation with Moroccan musician, composer, and singer Majid Bekkas. He contributes compositions, ideas and improvisations of his own. With his instruments, the oud and the guembri (bass lute) and elements from the North African Gnawa tradition, the challenge and charm of the project are to make creative use of the tension and differences between different musical cultures. Together with their guest, the ensemble has found different approaches to establishing connections, as well as highlighting the differences and using them to create musical energy and tension. TransEuropeExpress Ensemble: Hans Lüdemann - piano, virtual piano Yves Robert - trombone Alexandra Grimal - soprano & tenor saxophones Silke Eberhard - alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet Regis Huby - violin Ronny Graupe - guitar Sebastien Boisseau - double bass Dejan Terzic - drums, percussion Featuring Majid Bekkas - oud, guembri, voice

Track Listing

Press Quotes

This is an album by the French-German octet called TransEuropeExpress Ensemble, led by pianist Hans Ludemann, which features the Moroccan musician / composer / singer / multi-instrumentalist Majid Bekkas. The album presents ten tracks, six composed by Ludemann, one by Bekkas, two co-composed by Bekkas and Ludemann and once by saxophonist Alexandra Grimal. As the title suggests, this is the first of a series of recordings by the ensemble, which incorporate elements originating from outside, but bordering with the European cultural zone, this time from across the Mediterranean, the North African Gnawa tradition, which Master Bekkas impersonates with every aspect of his music making: vocals, oud, guembri or any other instrument he touches, as well as his compositions of course. The music manages to amalgamate the European musical tradition with the West African musical tradition in a most natural way imaginable, using the freedom and open-mindedness of Jazz and improvisation as a common ground. The resulting music sounds completely intuitive and genuine, which of course is a great success of this project. Ludemann's compositions are all brilliant and the ensemble performs the music with finesse and gusto, which results in a wonderful aesthetic musical experience. Bekkas finds a way to incorporate his instrumental parts into the ensemble performances not only on his compositions, but also on the compositions by Ludemann, which is hardly surprising considering his vast experience of playing with European musicians. His flexibility and personality make him always an ideal partner in such mutual adventures. The album was released by the Hungarian BMC Records, one of the most ambitious European Jazz / Improvised Music labels, which surely deserves a wider recognition among challenging music fans around the world with their solid catalogue build carefully over the years. Overall, this is a brilliant example of Jazz-World Fusion, which respectfully combines seeming alien musical traditions into a new amalgam, which proves that music is completely borderless and finding the common roots is only up to the musicians. Wholeheartedly recommended.

     —Adam Baruch, adambaruch.com

Hungary-based BMC Records is quietly building up an impressive catalogue of adventurous modern jazz recordings. The latest is an ambitious session led by Hans Lüdemann... Lots of dreamy landscapes, seascapes and soundscapes to imbibe.

     —George Harris, jazzweekly.com (USA)

Lots of dreamy landscapes, seascapes and soundscapes to imbibe.

     —George W. Harris, JazzWeekly.com