The Trance of Seven Colors
The Trance Of Seven Colors is an album by Gnawa musician Maleem Mahmoud Ghania released by Axiom and Island Records in 1994. The music, which was recorded on June 1–3, 1994 at the house of the Caid Khoubane in the Medina of Essaouira, District Chbanat, Morocco, also features tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, along with a group largely consisting of members of Mahmoud's family. On this album, Ghania is heard on lead vocals, Tbel (tambourine), and Guimbri, which is a bass-like, hollow-bodied instrument roughly three feet in length. The body, which can be  struck by the musician as the strings are plucked, is covered with camel skin, while the strings are made from goat intestines. Members of Ghania's family are well known as makers of Guimbri. The title of the album refers to the fact that in Gnawa trance ceremonies, which can last eight or more hours (usually an entire night), the Maleem, or master musician, guides the group through a cycle of invocation of seven "mluk" (singular "melk"; "an abstract entity that gathers a number of similar "jnun" (genie spirits)"), each of which is characterized by a different color, rhythm, melody , behavior, and type of incense. During the ceremony, known as the "lila", participants, in a trance state, negotiate relationships with their "mluk". According to ethnomusicologist Timothy D. Fuson, "because the "mluk" must be invoked in a certain order, the "lila" follows a path through the night whose road is marked in the sensory realms of sound (music, song), sight (colors), smell (incense), and movement (dance)." Reception. In a review for AllMusic, Wilson McCloy wrote: "To call this outing 'authentic' would be an understatement, given that Bill Laswell and Pharoah Sanders took only some digital recording equipment and Sanders' saxophone to  Morocco to record it. The CD sleeve photos show the informal nature of the proceedings, revealing that the recording took place in someone's home with a large cast of musicians, many of whom are Ghania's family members. The recording did not suffer at all from the mobile equipment, and "The Trance of Seven Colors" lives up to its title, giving the listener first-hand access to Gnawa healing ceremonial music. Ghania's Guimbri (an African instrument) unravels masterful, off-kilter, bass-like lines over chanting and various percussion instruments. Pharoah Sanders sounds inspired in the setting also, making  this a worthwhile recording for Sanders fans who heard intimations of world music in his '60s dates." Writing for All About Jazz, Chris May called the album "outstanding" and "360° authentic", and commented: "Laswell's production is formula-free and there appear to be no overdubs, no post-production sonic manipulations and only a little editing. It is a field recording, pure and simple and, apart from a couple of occasions when Sanders veers off-mic, it is well recorded... On "The Trance Of Seven Colors"... driven by gnawa's relentless rhythm and sandpaper sonics, and most particularly perhaps  by the raw reediness of the ghaitas, Sanders frequently scrolls back to the ESP/Coltrane paradigm, which was packed with high harmonics, split tones and low register honks." Dragos Rusu, in an article at The Attic, remarked: "This is a totally special album. It is... one of the most important albums of Gnawa trance music released in the '90s... The album... is an amazing journey through free jazz, fusion, tribal and trance Gnawa music. Take your time to enjoy an extraordinary and complex LP, with music that could best be described as 'healing music'. The combination of different harmonies played  on guembri... with Pharoah's (sometimes) brutal and sublime interventions make this record a totally adventurous trip... Not only is this going to boost your boring day, but you'll be totally healed after a few auditions." An article at JazzIz titled "Year By Year: Five Essential Albums of 1994" by Matt Micucci states: ""The Trance of Seven Colors" documents the mindblowing meeting of the percussive Gnawa healing ceremonial music of southern Morocco and the free jazz improvisational genius of Pharaoh Sanders... [Bill] Laswell brought with him only some simple digital recording equipment and the blowing date took place in  the courtyard of a private house with a large ensemble mostly made up of Ghania's family members. The simplicity of the recording process makes "The Trance of Seven Colors" sound all the more authentic and transportative." Track listing. Track 1 by Maleem Mahmoud Ghania and Pharoah Sanders. Track 4 by Pharoah Sanders. Tracks, 2, 3, and 5-9 traditional. Recorded on June 1–3, 1994 at the house of the Caid Khoubane in the Medina of Essaouira, District Chbanat, Morocco