| Louca, Maurice / Elephantine |
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| Album: | Elephantine | Collection: | General | |
| Artist: | Louca, Maurice | Added: | Jan 2019 | |
| Label: | Northern Spy Records | |||
| A-File Activity |
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| Add Date: | 2019-01-22 | Pull Date: | 2019-03-26 | Charts: | Jazz, Reggae/World, Classical/Experimental |
| Week Ending: | Mar 24 | Mar 17 | Feb 10 | Jan 27 |
| Airplays: | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Mar 23, 2019: | Music Casserole The Leper | 4. | Feb 03, 2019: | On the Warpath The Leper | |
| 2. | Mar 14, 2019: | Cafe Nakhil The Palm Of A Ghost | 5. | Jan 25, 2019: | Hysteresis History Laika | |
| 3. | Feb 07, 2019: | Hanging in the Bone Yard Laika | 6. | Jan 23, 2019: | Brownian Motion The Palm Of A Ghost |
| Album Review |
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| DeVoss Reviewed 2019-01-16 | ||
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– General Description: Maurice Louca is an Egyptian musician and composer, also co-founder of the bands Bikya, Alif and Dwarves of East Agouza. Elephantine was recorded in Stockholm in August 2017 with a 12-piece ensemble. “There was a blessed thing about the process of making this record,” says Louca. “The dynamic between us musically but also as people ...What these musicians delivered was really more than I could ask for. Everyone played their hearts out on this record.” This work has a strong jazz feel with a use of repetition influenced by African and Yemeni music and other transcendental modal traditions. Vocalist Nadah El Shazly adds her voice on The Palm of a Ghost; the other tracks are instrumentals. Elephantine is a welcome addition to our world of music. – FCC Compliant: YES – Recommended Tracks: 2, 4, 5 – Track Reviews: 1. (8:43) The Leper - near silence until 0:20; nice combo of instruments builds with increasing flow of insect-like sounds in and out; some sax wailing too; has a nice beat, very dream-like and upbeat; starts winding down and wandering off at 8:15 but stick with it for the final thought 2. ***(4:00) Laika - guttural start with single low throaty sax; then others join in formation and rawly call out at random 3. (4:59) One More for the Gutter - lots of fluttering about with a few dramatic chordal crashes demanding attention; devolves into confused anarchy by 2:38 and the loud argument continues until the end 4. ***(5:46) The Palm of a Ghost - soft lovely female voice with woven strings beneath; mild, pleasant, Mid-Eastern song 5. ***(7:38) Elephantine - if an elephant had a jazz group...relaxed and mostly elegant jazz piece with a sleepy quality 6. (7:09) Al Khawaga - immediate energy; marching around with instrumental wailing on top; very harsh; ends at 6:50 | ||
| Track Listing |
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| 1. | The Leper | 4. | The Palm Of A Ghost | |||
| 2. | Laika | 5. | Elephantine | |||
| 3. | One More For The Gutter | 6. | Al Khawaga |