The flourishing raï scene of the end of the nineteen nineties seems to have completely disappeared, but amateurs of North African rhythms can still get their fill with the growing number of gnawa-projects out there. In the past virtuoso guembri player Aziz Sahmaoui was a member of Orchestre National De Barbès, but for this solo project he surrounded himself with a number of musicians originating from Senegal and Morocco (Cheikh Diallo - kora, Hervé Samb - guitar, Alioune Wade - bass and Adil Mirghani - percussion) to explore the boundaries of the gnawa-genre. Apart from gnawa rhythms, on 'Mazal' (Arabic for "perseverance") you will just as well hear influences from jazz ('Water-Line'), rock ('Jilala') and flamenco ('Yasmine', for which Aziz invited flamenco guitarist Niño Josele).