[polygram]	review from vijay choksi

Legend has it that if these guys stop playing, the world will come to an end. I wish I hadn't heard that, especially since they are on the endangered species list.

Coming from the foothills of the Rif Mountains in Morocco, the all-male group has roots that go back a mighty four thousand years. They had their backs royally backed for many centuries; they were exempt from all work except making music.

How nice.



The Master Musicians of Jajouka first opened their doors to the west in collaborating with the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones in 1971. They have been striving to stay alive since then, not letting the plague of capitalism change their rich musical ritual healing. And they have been true to that. This disc is their latest step into the western world: produced by Talvin Singh. It is easy to mistake this as a Talvin album, another one of his creative excursions. But no, it seems Talvin has kept his tablatronics to a minimum with only "You Can Find the Feeling","Jamming in London," and "The Magic of Peace" sounding truly Talviny.

This album is pure roots with strong double-headed Moroccan drums, 3-stringed guimbris, and ghaitas. It does tend to get very repetitive and tedious (one track is a ten-minute cycle), but they don't care, and personally I am happy as long as the Earth keeps spinin'.