BAABA MAAL featuring ERNEST RANGLIN / “Koni”

I was talking to my brother the other day and he said, “When are you y’all going to do some African music?”* I hadn’t thought about it before, but his question makes sense. Although we do post an awful lot of music that can easily be traced back to Africa, we don’t post much music by actual African musicians. Of course, Africa is a continent, not a country or a region. In fact, Africa is the second largest continent in the world — home to nearly one billion people and countless different cultures, societies and styles of music. In a way, there is no such thing as “African” music. So how’s about one country at a time? This week, I’m going to hit y’all up with a few of my favorite tunes from one of the most musical countries in Africa — Senegal. For those who don’t know, Senegal is on the coast of Western Africa, just west of another very musical African country, Mali, and to the east of the islands of Cape Verde, a place we talk about often here at BoL. Senegal’s capital and largest city (pop. 2,000,000) is the coastal city of Dakar. Let’s start with one of the best known Senegalese musicians and a personal favorite of my brother’s, the guitarist, singer and percussionist Baaba Maal. Maal is from a small town in Northern Senegal called Podor. He was expected to be a fisherman, as his father was, but he gravitated towards music and after studying in Paris, he returned to Senegal, eventually becoming one of the most famous African musicians in the world. The tune in the jukebox, “Koni,” is from Maal’s 1999 release Live At The Royal Festival Hall. It’s a lullaby Maal says he learned from his mother. Jamaican legend Ernest Ranglin is helping out on guitar. This is a Contemporary post, but I have to include one classic record, “Utrus Horas” by Orchestre Baobab, a band whose mellow style and melancholic vibe reminds me a lot of the famous Cape Verdian sound. Throughout the 1970s, Baobab was one of the biggest bands in Africa. They released album after successful album and even hosted their own Dakar nightclub. In the ‘80s, Baobab broke up, but not before they recorded tracks for what would eventually become their most popular album, Pirates Choice. It took almost another decade, but in 1989 the Pirates Choice album was finally released. After the record became an improbable international hit, the Orchestre rebanded and has since gone on to record several more albums, including last year’s Made In Dakar. If there is a more famous Senegalese musician than Baaba Maal, it has to be Youssou N’Dour, a singer and composer whose career recently entered its fourth decade. Our selection is “Bamba The Poet” from Youssou’s 2004 album Egypt, a collection of sacred music that Youssou composed in conjunction with an Egyptian conductor named Fathy Salama. For me, the most notable thing about this song is the way it matches strength and grace, power and calmness. Youssou’s voice and the classical strings give the song a certain lightness of tone that belies its spiritual weight. Note too that this album, due to the addition of Egyptian and orchestral instrumentation, is a considerable departure from Youssou’s normal style which tends to be either an uptempo traditional sound (for his Senegalese albums) or a slicker “world music” sound (for his international releases). The final two selections are by lesser known Senegalese musicians, both of whom I came across at the excellent African music blog, Benn Loxo Du Taccu. The first is a very interesting musician named Nuru Kane. I won’t be surprised if Nuru ends up a lot more famous than he is now. He has that unnameable ‘it,’ a charismatic something that makes you pay a little extra attention whenever his music is playing. To whit, one reviewer accurately described Nuru’s attitude as “an almost regal confidence.” Notice how “Niane,” a track taken from Nuru’s 2006 debut album Sigil, sounds traditional, psychedelic and modern, all at the same time. It’s a strange mix of vibes, a mix I like a lot. The last of this week’s Sengalese selections is by a duo named Pape & Cheikh. I don’t know anything about them, and this is the only track I’ve ever heard, but I like the multi-layered, tumbling feel of the percussion (including the poly-rhythmic handclaps) and I like their energy level. “Kamalemba” is from their 2004 album Mariama.

More African music to come…. —Mtume ya Salaam * Just in case anyone is wondering, my brother’s question had nothing to do with the recent back-and-forth over Smokey Robinson and the ‘black’ vs. ‘African American’ debate. I actually started working on this post a few weeks before hearing Smokey's poem.            Jerking my chain              Mtume, why you want to go and do this? Jumping in Africa. Implicitly challenging me to drop a bunch of the different flavors of Africa residing in my h(ear)t—(i.e. heart and ear). When you first told me about this we agreed to step back from Mali. Man, we could do a whole month of Mali and just be getting started. And of course South Africa is both well known and damn near a total mystery. Who (what serious lover of black music) has not heard Hugh Masekela or Miriam Makeba? But there are literally thousands more in South Africa on all kinds of tips: gospel to jazz plus the cornucopia of South Africa genres. And wasn’t it just three weeks or so back that we dropped Abudullah Ibrahim / Jean Grae / Sathima Bea Benjamin? And that intro leaves about 50 countries to go. It’s too much, which is why we’re just randomly jumping in. Senegal is interesting for a number of reasons not the least because there’s a strong jazz interest both within Senegal and among jazz musicians checking out Senegal.  So I guess this is Senegal part one; for sure there’s more to come before we head off to another motherland country. I know Youssou N’Dour is considered the tip of the pyramid but Baaba Maal is my eastern star. I’m including two tracks from Baaba Maal’s album Firin’ In Fouta, much of which was recorded on location in villages. My man Maal does both traditional and modern, acoustic and electronic. “African Woman” is a praise song built on Afro-Cuban influences. Salsa is huge in Africa and here you hear a funky, funky horn-heavy blow out. “Swing Yela” is some crazy Senagalese dance music in the style they call Yela. In fact I’m going to add a third track. This is a remix built on Jamacian dancehall vibes taken from a remix EP called Ngalanka (Remix). Baaba Maal is an intriguing musician. He’s holding on to the traditions with two hands, can drop the ancient songs with nary a misstep and at the same time he can roll with the latest flavor. This is some two-headed music that comes correct regardless of which way Baaba Maal faces. Jazz is my heartbeat. There are a number of jazz albums featuring Senagalese musicians working in collaboration with jazz veterans, however, one of the best examples of Senagelese jazz is Kora Jazz Trio. They have two self-titled albums. “Folly” and a version of Monk’s “Rythm'Ming” are both from Kora Jazz Trio Part Two. The Kora Jazz Trio has an instrumentation that is both unique for a jazz trio and reflective of indigenous African elements. The line up is Abdoulaye Diabate from Senegal on piano, Djeli Moussa Diawara from Guinea on kora and vocals, and Moussa Cissoko from Senegal on percussion. Since there is no bass, the piano holds down the harmony and since the kora is plucked rather than strummed, there’s not much chording. Additionally, most of the percussion is hand drumming rather than a jazz drum kit. It all makes for a truly African take on jazz rather than simply an example of African musicians playing in the style of jazz musicians. Indeed, they don’t even try to “swing.” It’s more like Latin jazz except the rhythm variations are more complex. A few elements stand out. The kora often sounds akin to a steel drum in this context. The percussion is light but always percolating in a counterpoint that is as lyrical as it is driving. In fact, Diabate’s left hand  functions as both a bass and a bass drum. He is incredibly gifted at playing a steady bass line while improvising on top of and sometimes even in contrast to the vamp he plays with his left hand. The Kora Jazz Trio have their own sound and don’t ever sound like an American outfit. Moreover, all three of them are stellar improvisers. As a jazzhead, I am truly, truly impressed with these cats. I’m closing with two selections from the great Senegalese percussionist Doudou N’Diaye Rose from his album Djabote. I have the golden opportunity not only to hear him play but also to dance to his drums and conduct a short interview with Doudou. Every phase of our encounter was an honor. “Diame” and “Walo” were recorded live on Goree Island off the coast of Senegal with fifty drummers and a choir of eighty singers. To say this is a powerful ensemble is an extreme understatement. The hallmark of this music is unison ensemble drumming and singing. Odd as it may seem for an album of drumming, the best way to think of this is as music for meditation rather than dancing. This is probably one of the most calming examples of African drumming you will ever hear. Once again, Baaba Maal, Kora Jazz Trio and DouDou N’Diaye Rose demonstrate just how accurate is the truism: out of Africa always something new. —Kalamu ya Salaam          A country in West Africa         I enjoyed nearly all of these additional tracks from Senegal, and in retrospect, I'm glad Kalamu decided to post a few more Baaba Maal tracks. I love "Koni," but honestly, it isn't representative of most of Maal's music. The "Yele" remix was pretty funny. If I would've known that one was going to be in the jukebox, I could've skipped the whole paragraph about Senegal's place in Africa. Dude broke it all down in his rap:

Senegal is a country in West Africa Between Gambia and Mauritania...

(Don't know who it is rapping, but it obviously isn't Maal.) —Mtume ya Salaam

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 12:37 am and is filed under Contemporary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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