Description
Marockin’ Brass represents all musical passions of MetX. On 'Beats & Pieces' one can hear in their music the result of a long-lasting love and a thorough analysis of (north)-African rhythms on which they layer their melodic lines that refer to jazz, contemporary music as well as to non-western musical vocabulary. The result is astonishingly fresh and sounds as if Brussels had always been a harbour at the Mediterranean sea. The answer lies undoubtedly in the great amount of respect that is used to intertwine both musical traditions. Hang in there for some steaming gnaoua or sweaty chaabi-funk accompanied by some redhot brass that will blow the sand out of your ears! Marockin’ Brass is a real treat for your brain and your feet, on a scene or in open air! Their music is the anthem of the new urban nomad.
In the 1980's Luc Mishalle started collaborating with Moroccan musicians. “After all those years, it's as if their music became part of my DNA, it's become part of my own music,” tells Mishalle. “After hours and hours of playing together, we've created a very organic music from Brussels today.” Moroccan-Belgian musicians such as Maalem Driss Filali make an unmistakable important contribution to the unique sound of Marockin’ Brass.”
The 'Beats & Pieces' refer to the collaborations with percussionist Roel Poriau and electronic producer Sofyann Ben Youssef. The 'beats' refer to the drums of Poriau (Think of One, Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra), who has a more prominent style and the pumping Arabic basslines are the trademark of Tunisian producer Ben Youssef (Ammar808, Kel Assouf). About these collaborations Mishalle says: “Poriau initially became part of the project as replacement for one of our musicians who could not make the recording session. We rehearsed thoroughly up to the recording sessions and his input on the percussive side was vital. It was also the first time that we worked with a producer in the person of Ben Youssef. This was an eye opener to us as we started to interpret our
compositions in very different ways."
Let's also note the Beninese traditionals Mishalle composed over the years during tours with a Beninese brass band. This brings us to another red thread through the album: trance. One can especially find it in gnawa music and also in Benin, the cradle of voodoo. “Trance music aims to create obsession through constant repetition. We kept the essence of that music, adding jazz and brass colours,”
