A fine painting. A good book. A pint of Guinness. Some things can’t be rushed.
When Cheikh Lô releases an album, you know it hasn’t been rushed. Making his debut international album in 1996, he’s released five albums in 19 years – it’s usual to have to wait five years between his releases. He’s a perfectionist – it’s not unknown for him to scrap a fully-recorded album and start again if it doesn’t meet his standard. It’s perfection that has taken him around the world, for Cheikh Lô makes international music. Influences stream in from every corner, and find a comfortable Senegalese home in which to meld and recreate within Lô’s innovative sound. This internationalism is no surprise: it’s a pattern that echoes his life.
Born and raised in Burkina Faso, he learnt his trade playing music from Cuba and the Congo; when he moved to Senegal, the country of his parents’ birth, in his 20s, he was working with musicians from Côte d’Ivoire and France, connections that eventually led to him moving to Paris in the late 1980s.
As Lô’s rough-yet-beautiful voice gained him international recognition, it was only natural that his broad musical horizons presented themselves accordingly. By the time of his 2005 album, Lamp Fall, he was making his recordings across three continents: the album was made up of sessions recorded in Brazil, Senegal and the UK. His music has always been rooted in mbalax – he’s at the height of the genre – but throughout his career, his music has bent and moulded around to embrace so many styles. Influences from Senegal are of course in abundance, with sabar drumming, Mouride chants and hints of géwél (griot) music, but from there his influences explode over the planet, taking in funk, soul, Afrobeat, rumba, soukous, makossa, reggae, samba, flamenco…
Over the years, he’s worked with many disparate artists, many of whom are at the very top of their fields. In his own records, he has welcomed contributions from such legends as Wassoulou songbird Oumou Sangaré, Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen and James Brown’s saxophonist of choice, Pee Wee Ellis. He’s also joined artists as a collaborator, contributing to works by Ojos de Brujo, Manu Dibango and Buena Vista stars Ruben González and Ibrahim Ferrer.
The musician that has arguably been most influential in his career, however, has been Youssou N’dour. While he was working as a session singer and drummer, Lô’s voice so awed the bandleader that when it came for Lô to record his first album for the world market, Né La Thiass (which was to be released on the now-legendary World Circuit Records, no less) N’dour jumped at the chance to produce it, as well as guesting on a few tracks himself.
It was also at Youssou N’dour’s personal recommendation that Cheikh Lô first graced the WOMEX stage. It was all the way back at WOMEX 97 in Marseille – only our third edition – and Lô was a rising star. He took to the stage as part of a supergroup of West Africans curated by N’dour, which also included stars Dimi Mint Abba from Mauritania and Guinean Doura Barry. In the WOMEX Guide that year, we were already talking of Lô ‘[making] headlines in Europe – and beyond’ by ‘grabbing the attention of adventurous lovers of international music and the interbreeding of its different styles’.
And he’s not stopped since. Lô stayed with World Circuit Records for 15 years and four albums, each one capturing his most individual sound yet constantly moving, evolving and refreshing – and, of course, achieving widespread critical acclaim along the way. His journey continues: after an amicable parting with World Circuit, he released his fifth album, Balbalou, on the French label Chapter Two Records earlier this year, including Lô’s usual slew of high-profile guests (this time including Brazilian songstress Flavia Coelho and Lebanese trumpet maestro Ibrahim Maalouf) and his own globetrotting compositions and spine-tingling voice.
Writers who have discussed Cheikh Lô often mention his striking looks – with long dreadlocks, patchwork robes and heavy leather jewellery, he’d certainly stand out in many crowds. But these aren’t aesthetic choices; rather, they are symbols of his Baye Fall faith. The Baye Fall are a branch of the particularly Senegalese Sufi Muslim brotherhood of the Mourides. They are a group that moves away from many traditionally ‘Islamic’ codes of practice: they worship saints, are not necessarily obliged to go to Mecca or mosque, or even to pray – they instead place their emphasis on work as prayer, and music is just as important. They work hard during the day and sing and dance their prayers at night.
Many of Cheikh Lô’s songs focus on his status and beliefs as a Baye Fall, as a Sufi, and as a Muslim. He sings praises to the saints Ibra Fall (founder of the Baye Fall movement) and Amadou Bamba, and to his own marabout (spiritual guide) Massamba N’Diaye. He has even recorded several Sufi zikr (remembrance) songs. It is one of Lô’s greatest achievements that, through his music, he has introduced knowledge of the Baye Fall around the world, international exposure, recognition and understanding of the brotherhood.
As a legend both in Senegal and across the world, for his constant and consistent innovation, for bringing the Baye Fall into wider knowledge, and, above all, his dedication to long-term musical excellence in mbalax through the embrace of all music, the WOMEX Artist Award is only fitting for this world music giant. Cheikh Lô may be in no rush, yet he refuses to slow down.
Photo: Cheikh Lô live at WOMEX 15, by Yannis Psathas.