The debut release of this Paris-based Algerian gnawa musician is a revelation. Highly unusual as a woman singer/instrumentalist in this tradition, Hasna performed regularly for decades in Algeria before going into exile in 1999 in France, where this recording was made, but she never recorded. This history helps to explain the poise, polish, and maturity evident in her voice, compositions, and fleet instrumental work.

The gnawa use music to inspire healing trances, and Hasna is plainly a master of that. From her opener, "Bouri Bouri Manandabo," an invocation welcoming the spirits, the metallic clop and deep gut-string thrum of the guimbri casts a spell. Here and on a number of other tracks, Hasna's deep, raspy voice is answered by a generous chorus, and also by a reedy, wooden flute, compliments of the Fulani cultural input that is part of the mix in Hasna's hometown, Béchar. Located near the Moroccan border, this area is a meeting place for the cultures of the Maghreb and the Sahel, and elements of Bedouin, Berber, Fula, European and Arab cultures color Hasna's rich take on gnawa grooves and melodies. On "Djazäir Johara," a song about the sweetness and melancholy of exile, Hasna's twangy electric guitar shadows her vocal melody, and contrasts with the guimbri's low lope. This song unfolds into another, "Al Oueja"--"Here he is! He has come!--in which Hasna amps up into a raucous guitar solo at end that lashes the sound into an ecstatic tumble.

"Hakmet Lakdar" and "Brani Britou," Hasna's first composition telling a tale of a woman's seduction and abandonment, offer great hook melodies giving this set of songs a nice balance between folkloric authenticity and pop appeal. Hasna manages to make a nylon-string guitar sound very much like an oud, as on the solo feature, "El lil lil, El lil Libiya," a traditional song about the anxiety that comes with nightfall. Hasna's voice is hard--you might mistake it for a man's--but it has a silky poignancy that goes down easily. In all, her masterful debut is one of the most appealing North African releases in recent years.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org