Thione Seck "Orientissime" 2005***

Thione Seck may be, next to Youssou N'Dour, one of Senegal's most popular singers but he remains relatively unknown in (what we think of as) the West - which is, to be exact, the North, seeing as Senegal lies to the west of Europe's westernmost point. He served as the lead singer of Orchestra Baobab (1973-1979) but left to front his own band, missing out on the international recognition that came with the release of their Pirates' Choice album in '89. He belongs to the griot caste, West Africa's hereditary troubadours and keepers of oral tradition - his great-grandfather was a court musician for the legendary Wolof king Lat Dior. He usually plays in the popular mbalax style rather than the Cubano-Congolese rumba of Baobab, but this album finds him transcending his roots and fusing West African music with Arabic and Indian melodies. The Arabic influence comes naturally, due to the proximity with the Maghreb as well as Seck's position in the Muslim Murid brotherhood. Apparently, Indian music reached him through the Bollywood film industry whose products were quite popular in Dakar's movie theaters when he was young.

Seck before a Bollywood poster in Dakar

All the songs are credited to Seck, many of them being complete reworkings of previous hits he had with his regular band Raam Daan. The mix is natural and arrangements expertly realized: The backing vocalists are a typical African detail, Seck's smooth and languorous vocals (sung in Wolof) isn't a far cry from Arabic singing, with oriental melodies often played by soaring violins, and Indian music scales prevail. Likewise the instrumentation is mixed: we get the local  xalam lute and sabar drums, Indian tablas and sitars and Arabian oud. "Assalo" is the most Indian-sounding piece thanks to the sitar and guest vocalist Bombay Jay. Egyptian singer Rehab graces two songs here: "Yaye" and "Woyatina". Apparently Seck was impressed with the success of Natasha Atlas' amalgam of Oriental and pop sounds, and wanted to incorporate some of that in his album. While she doubtless has a wonderful voice, I'm more attracted to the Arabian strings, both in these tracks as well as the opener "Siiw", atmospheric closer "Mapenda" and percussion-driven "Blain Djigueul". "Manmignoul" also sports beautiful violin and (flute?) solos. "Mouhamadou Bamba", previously also recorded by Orchestra Baobab, retains the chorus of that version but it's slower with a more passionate and spiritual lead vocal as befits its religious text. "Ballago" is another highlight, featuring wistful sitar and sweet female backing vocals while "Djirim" and "Doom" are among the more upbeat tunes, despite lyrics dealing with suffering children and poverty. The latter is the only song with horns, and the closest to Orchestra Baobab's Afro-Cuban style. Orientissime was a relative commercial success with the "World Music" audience, coming on the heels of other successful syncretic attempts (the Irish/techno/African grooves of Afro Celt Sound System, Afro-flamenco amalgam of Songhai, Afro-Blues collaboration between Ali Farka Toure & Ry Cooder, etc.). To be honest, I'm somewhat skeptical about these transcontinental mixtures. I like the fact that musicians from different cultures create music together, but I'm apprehensive of disparate traditions merging into a musical mush that borrows from everywhere without being rooted anywhere. Not that this is the case here, mind you. But neither is this a good entry point to African music - more like an interesting, pleasant-sounding, experiment.

**** for Siiw, Assalo, Djirim, Ballago, Doom, Manmignou, Blain Djigueul, Mapenda

*** for Yaye, Woyatina, Mouhamadou Bamba

** for Mouhahibou

Orchestra Baobab "Pirates Choice: The Legendary 1982 Session" 1989(released)*****

I listened to this album when it first came out even though -like most people in the late 80's- I wasn't hip to "world music". It didn't exist as a genre yet - hell it doesn't exist as a genre now, it's just as a label for everything that's not anglo pop. Anyway, it helps to at least have hip friends even if you're not, and my best friend (later a music journalist) taped it for me. I was blown away right from the start by the relaxed dance groove, mellow sax and -above all- by Barthelemy Attisso's fluid guitar arpeggios. Not having another frame of reference at the time, I thought of him as the African J.J. Cale. I think that was just because of the laid-back groove though, since I don't discern any country or blues influences, the music is purely a mix of African and Cuban elements. Orchestra Baobab came together in 1970 as the house band of Dakar's exclusive Baobab club, and have different ethnic backgrounds: Attisso comes from Togo, drummer Mountaga Koité and sax player Issa Cissokho are (East Senegalese and Malian, respectively) Mandinka hereditary griots. Of the singers, Ndiounga Dieng belongs to the main Senegalese ethnic group Wolof, while Rudy Gomis and Balla Sidibe (the latter also plays timbales) come from Casamance, a region near the Guinea Bissau border with a strong Portuguese influence. They were very popular in the mid-70's and in high demand as entertainers, although by the time of this recording their Cuban rhythms were starting to fall out of favor with Dakar's club crowd who preferred the funkier style of younger bands like (Youssou N'Dour's) Étoile de Dakar. These recordings come from a 1982 studio session, recorded live without overdubs, and were originally circulated in cassette and limited LP form. By the time they were discovered by World Circuit and re-released under the title "Pirates Choice" the band had disbanded. It took the second re-release (in 2001, when the "world music" fad had caught on for good) for the band to return to active duty, make more records and tour the world. I saw them soon after in Athens (on a double bill with Salif Keita) and they were still amazing. The CD starts with a couple of laid-back rumbas ("Utru Horas" and "Coumba") sung by Rudy Gomis in creole Portuguese and French, respectively. The next two tracks ("Ledi Ndieme M'bodj", "Werente Serigne") are sung by Dieng in Wolof, and are more upbeat. "Ray Mbele" features yet another lead singer in Medoune Diallo and sounds unmistakably Cuban - except for the language, of course. The original album closer was the slow, almost wistful, "Soldadi", apparently based on a traditional Casamance tune. This CD edition adds alternate versions of "Utru Horas" and "Coumba", while the 2001 re-release (with a different cover) added a whole CD with 6 more songs recorded during the same sessions. That latest edition is still in print and easy to find, not exactly a "buried treasure" even though it was awarded that status by Mojo Magazine. Well, "buried" or not, a musical treasure it certainly is. Highly recommended, whether you like African, Jazz, or Latin music - or even if you're an out-and-out rock fan as I was when I first heard it.

***** for Utru Horas, Coumba, Werente Serigne, Ray Mbele

**** for Ledi Ndieme M'bodjm, Soldadi, Utru Horas (Alternate Take), Coumba (Alternate Take)

Baaba Maal and Mansour Seck "Djam Leelii" 1984(recorded) 1989(released)****

Musicians play an important role in West African culture, so it's no wonder that that region of the world has produced some of the so-called world music superstars. Since the Middle Ages, hereditary troubadours called griots are much more than entertainers, also playing the role of historian/storyteller, educator and political commentator. Rarely does someone born outside the musician's caste assume this role. Blind singer/guitarist Mansour Seck was a griot born and raised, but his friend and (subsequently) more famous counterpart Baaba Maal was born into the fisherman's caste. Maal's family wanted on him to transcend his humble beginnings and helped him enrol in Law School, but he'd never graduate. His love for music won out and he eventually struck a partnership with his friend Mansour that in 1984 took them as far as Paris where they entered a recording studio to make a record -actually a cassette- album that would become a hit with the African diaspora. 

5 years later it was released internationally on CD and vinyl under the title "Djam Leelii", gaining wide critical recognition. Maal would go on to become a world/pop crossover star, experiment with reggae, pop, soul and electronic sounds and collaborate with Western musicians. But "Djam Leelii" is strictly traditional music, two voices and acoustic guitars with discrete backing by percussion, electric guitar, kora and balafon. It's an album of gentle, hypnotic music, fluid guitars and mourning vocals. Among my favourite songs are the slow and melancholic "Djam Leelii" and "Lam Tooro". Very emotional and wistful playing and singing - I'm told the latter deals with the sorrow of forced migration, being forced by the harsh weather and political conditions to leave everything and everyone you know behind and travel to strange and unwelcoming destinations. The lyrics are all written in the Pulaar language, and there are no English translations on the web, but it seems that exile and immigration is the central theme to the album, ergo the English title appended to later reissues "Djam Leelii: The Adventurers". Somehow we Europeans think that these people very naturally and gladly exchange their homeland, friends and family for the "luxurious" living in the ghettos of the grey and cloudy cities of the North. Even more absurdly, we think that closing our borders to them will render us safer and more affluent. But anyway, don't let me give you the impression it's a depressing record. Next to the spiritual and sorrowful tunes there are enough uplifting, rumba-like, pieces which provide some of the album highlights ("Maacina Tooro", "Salminanam", "Kettodee"). If you like African sounds, acoustic guitars or just atmospheric music, this is an album you're sure to enjoy...

***** for Lam Tooro, Salminanam, Maacina Tooro, Djam Leelii

**** for Loodo, Sehilam, Kettodee

*** for Muudo Hormo, Bibbe Leydy