specialists in all styles: orchestra baobab

When Orchestra Baobab makes that claim, you want to believe them. Not because it is so endearing (it is), or because it reminds you of a particular touching mixture of hope & pride one might encounter elsewhere (one does) – but because once they get jamming, you end up wishing that a lot more music were as ..  content as theirs is.

Orchestra Baobab was formed in the wake of Senegalese independence, and a notion of ‘negritude‘: pride in being African. At the center of a surge in rediscovery & redefinition (Club Baobab belonged to the brother of the then Senegalese president Leopold Senghor), they found themselves being encouraged to incorporate traditional music into the otherwise standard Cuban son and pachanga that nightclubs in Dakar had popularised since the 40′s. Unlike other contemporary bands like Bembeya Jazz National (from Guinea) or the Super Rail Band (Mali) whose work integrated one single regional style, Orchestra Baobab (like the tree) spread their roots wide. Members included Wolof griot singers Laye M’boup and Thione Seck, Mandinka saxophonist Issa Cissoko, guitarist Barthelemy Attisso (Togo), Cassamance vocalist and songwriter Balla Sidibe, and vocalist/songwriter Rudolphe Gomis from Guinea-Bissau with his Latinate compositions.

What is remarkable about Orchestra Baobab is the sheer effortlessness of the fusion of styles they pulled off. You can hear the Cuban influences (what, exactly? figure it out: we’re not musical structure geeks), but you know that the music is its own thing, not a copy. While it might remind you a lot of things (Attisso cites Congolese guitarist Doctor Nico, Ibrahim Ferrer, Django Reinhardt, BB King, Wes Montgomery and Carlos Santana as influences), you know that you’re hearing something that belongs to itself. This music touches you everywhere.

Consider the evening. Tomorrow is on its way. But consider the evening: it is sufficient for now. Do you have something to drink? A comfortable chair? Someone to love? Good. It is sufficient for now.

Hommage a Tonton Ferrer (“Tribute to Uncle Ferrer“) from the album Specialist in All Styles by Orchestra Baobab Buy from Emusic, Mondomix or Amazon More Orchestra Baobab at Last.fm

~ posted by arvind

father and son

Dim lights. Accents previously unheard. A generous helping of faces from places unknown. Rows of colourful concoctions travelling undisturbed on trays. A flurry of expensive clothes and shiny shoes. Then, they come and set up stage. And he sings. The silkiness of the Kora reminds me of the legacy. The mesmerizing voice is fresh and baritone. It is that moment when comely ladies and debonair gents get up and dance. This must be NYC. This must be Vieux Farke Toure.

Life’s unfair if you have to carry the torch of legendary parents, but Vieux sizes up decently. Vieux Farka Toure is the sparkling legacy of one of the greatest musicians of our time and perhaps West Africa’s most popular musical name. Similar to his tenacious Dad (which earned him the moniker of “Farka”, which means “Donkey” in Songhai), Vieux (meaning “Old” in Francais) stood against his Dad’s wishes of pursuing a military career and instead took to jamming with his Dad’s records secretly. A wise decision, but sadly his father was not alive to hear his first album. Vieux experiments with electronica and desert blues. Vieux is the new french-speaking voice of traditional Mali.

The good father, Ali Farka Toure is worlds apart — a world closer to Mali than Memphis. His hypnotising Blues scales and soulful voice in Songhay, Fulfulde, Tamasheq, or Bambara transcend boundaries and language barriers. Toure collaborated with Toumani Diabate (oh, that will have to wait) in “In the Heart of the Moon”, and Ry Cooder in “Talking Timbuktu”, two albums that always leave me spellbound. Without further ado, find the files below.

	Mamadou Boutiquer, from the album In the Heart of the Moon Buy it from Amazon
	Diaraby, from the album Talking Timbuktu [Audio http://www.ics.uci.edu/~nsambasi/diaraby.mp3] Buy it from Amazon
	Courage, from the album UFOs over Bamako by Vieux Farka Toure Buy from Amazon Listen at Rhapsody

~ posted by nithya

misplaced flower power

Strolling through the remnants of the beat generation and tie-dyed counter-culture stores, I chanced upon this particularly religious store-of-sorts in Haight, San Fransisco. What we had there was not a subscription to a specific faith, but a showcase of all gods Eastern. As if, the omission of a deity would invoke the wrath of fire, earth, wind, and water. As I was left perplexed by the multitude of gods and forced to choose a  religious fit, the store also cleverly displayed its clothing and other wares. Of course, I gave in (but that is another story).

And then I heard Amadou and Mariam. And the subsequent mis-labeling as chant music by the store-owner. A few words were exchanged, goodbyes were bid and we both left feeling happy. Amadou and Mariam are a blind couple from Mali, who met at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako in 1977. Since then, their fame and entourage have travelled across the world. Seamlessly funking traditional roots, they blend Amadou Bagayoko’s catchy guitar tunes with Mariam Doumbia’s soulful vocals, spiced with elements of jazz, blues, french folk, and electronica. A standing testimony to music transcending obstacles — both somatic and geographic.

Senegal Fast Food, from the album Dimanche a Bamako
by
Amadou & Mariam

Buy from Amazon or iTunes

~ posted by nithya