Aziz Sahmaoui is one of Morocco's great fusion exponents. He grew up in Marrakesh listening to the music of the gnawa, the religious Sufi groups whose ancestors were brought across the Sahara as slaves from Africa. Then he moved to Paris where he became a founder of the rousing Orchestre National de Barbès, who mix reggae and chanson with north African influences, and later he worked with that great jazz keyboard player, Joe Zawinul. There are reminders of all of this in Sahmaoui's new project, a sophisticated set in which traditional gnawa songs are mixed with his own compositions and western influences, and in which he demonstrates his easygoing, powerful vocals and playing skills on guitar, madola, n'goni and percussion, with help from a largely Senegalese band. There's excellent production work from Martin Meissonnier, who has worked with everyone from Fela Kuti and King Sunny Adé to Khaled, and the best tracks include a furious north African treatment of Zawinul's Weather Report favourite Black Market, with chanting Moroccan vocals added, and Sahmaoui's slinky and driving Maktoube (which mysteriously appears twice). His other compositions include the gently pounding Kahina and the easygoing ballad Rofrane, which are pleasant, classily performed, but forgettable.