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The results are spectacular, with fiery improvisations, thrilling rhythms, and the kind of musical communication that’s sadly rare. ---CHRIS NICKSON HEARS HOW THE SUDANI PROJECT HAPPENED.

...the Gnawa-Jazz fusion, which also does not neglect a hommage to Missisippi Blues, is simply ingenious. - Klaus Schönenberg

...a distinctly jazz oriented, at times swinging, but mostly deeply spiritual mix of fiery music that must be heard to be fully appreciated. - Michael G. Nastos

Sudani is the ambitious, genre-spanning project of New York alto saxophonist Patrick Brennan in collaboration with Chicago-born drummer Nirankar Khalsa and a number of Gnawan musicians, recorded ... - Pete Gershon

...a soulful blend of jazz, blues and North African musical traditions. - Robert Seiden

...both musics stem from African bases of radically different sorts, but from a purely musical point of view, they meet on a common ground of improvisatory abandon. - Robert Seiden

...a noticeable shortage of recognizable tune , material and much too much unstructured free-form, manic... - Børge Blume-Jensen

...some of the finest call-and-response patterns on record... - James D. Armstrong, Jr.

...both are innovators within their respective cultural traditions...

- Abdul Moimeme

I guess you just had to be there.

- David Lewis

Brennan believes after outsiders brought centuries of colonialism and slavery to Morocco and all of Africa, this recording project is a small opportunity to give something back. - Stephen Snyder

One for cranking up the volume, running around the house and punching the air shouting “Yes!” to. - Ian Anderson

Here, something creatively new did not develop, but was simply Gnawa music with a jazz musician as guest.------------- - Hans-Jürgen Lenhart

This is an outstanding work lucidly played; well organized; and intelligent.

- Tim Price

BEST CDs of 2000................. ........ . - Michael G. Nastos

sudani____________ LINER NOTES BY TIM FUSON

In the most intense moments of trance during Gnawa nights, a reciprocal relationship is forged between the m'allim playing the guinbri and the person dancing in trance. While it is the guinbri whose riffs draw in the trancer and propel him or her deeper into the groove, the dancer in turn makes demands and gives directions to the guinbri, which responds in turn. This type of transcendent reciprocity, in which one wonders who is the player and who is being played, is a highlight of the best jazz performances as well.

Najib Sudani, Patrick Brennan, Nirankar Khalsa and company build upon the commonalties of African-American and African-Maghribi music not only at the level of melody and rhythm, but also at a deeper level of interactive structure, each one giving and taking in turn. Nirankar surrenders the role of primary timekeeper to the qarqaba and lets his trap drumming follow the guinbri; Najib surrenders lead vocals to Patrick's alto; the Gnawa chorus responds to Patrick as the m'allim's voice; Patrick in turn surrenders that role to become the trance dancer, submitting his alto to the propulsion of Najib's guinbri; and Nirankar extemporizes his own song suite among the Children of the Forest, at the bidding of the m'allim. Sensitive listening on the part of each musician and a willingness to follow each other without being bound by typical genre constraints makes this recording one of the most satisfying and genuinely collaborative Gnawa explorations to date.

- Tim Fuson Marrakesh / U.C. Berkeley