Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff - Magg Tekki

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 193, December 2023.

Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff
Magg Tekki
Mississippi Records (34 mins)

Assiko Golden Band have been a fixture on the Dakar music scene for the past 20 years, representing the Senegalese capital’s most populous – and crowded – neighbourhood of Grand Yoff. In its current form, the group is a 17-strong collective of drums, percussion and voices spanning three generations, led by poet, singer and flute player Djiby Ly. Amid the dense rhythmic tapestry, lyrics in Wolof and French give positive messages of power, hope and encouragement to stand up for those who have less, with spiritual references to Sufi Islam and Christianity throughout.

Although the band have been going for decades at this point, Magg Tekki is their debut album, and its sound has been very much crafted by Swedish producer Karl-Jonas Winqvist (also the architect behind the Wau Wau Collectif). Assiko Golden Band themselves were recorded in Dakar, but saxophones, accordion, kora, additional percussion and production effects were added later on in Stockholm. While these additions work well and supplement the Senegalese sound with references from Afrobeat, jazz and European folk, it would have been nice to hear the band in their unadulterated, direct-from-Grand Yoff form that has made them so popular in their own scene.

Batch Gueye - Moytou

A version of this review was first published in Songlines Magazine issue 172, November 2021.

Batch Gueye
Moytou
Batch Gueye (44 mins)

It’s a bad portent for an album when, about 12 seconds into the first song, there’s a clear and audible ‘watermark’ for a beat-making website, indicating the use of unlicensed beats on the track. But that’s how Moytou starts. Even leaving aside questions of legality, using someone’s musical work like that without licensing, permission or even a credit is so unethical, unprofessional and – for the listener – deeply weird. It definitely leaves a sour taste, but let’s listen to the rest… it doesn’t get much better, really.

UK-based Senegalese dancer-turned-singer Batch Gueye had a very promising first album, Ndiarigne, back in 2015, and has been a key element of the forward-thinking Afro-futurist jazz group Fofoulah. His solo work has gone downhill since then, though, and Moytou feels like a shadow of what he is capable of. Where that first album managed to alternate between hard-hitting and raw, and delicate and emotional, here, the moods seem to have smoothed out into a middle-of-the-road mbalax-lite.

Gueye is at his best when he surrounds his soulful, high-pitched Wolof vocals around the polyrhythms of sabar and tama drums and guitars, but too often here he falls back on an over-reliance on uninteresting synths, pads and beats. There are some good ideas and impressive singing, but the whole thing is poorly executed, uninspiring and lacking in the fun energy that should be coursing through it all. The track ‘Waye Wi’ stands out as a high point, and gives a glimpse at the quality that could reasonably be expected throughout.

Moytou is a missed opportunity from Gueye – some shining moments amid a generally disappointing album with little to set it apart from the crowd… not to mention some dodgy artistic ethics. Bring the old Batch back!

Modou Touré - Touki

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 162, November 2020.

Modou Touré
Touki
ARC Music (39 mins)

Senegalese singer Modou Touré has big shoes to fill as the son of Ousmane Touré, lead singer of the legendary band Touré Kunda, but he’s become a staple on the UK scene since settling in London in the late 00s. After success with guitarist Ramon Goose as part of the West African Blues Project, he now presents his debut solo album, Touki (A Journey).

The album’s theme comes from Touré’s life of travel, and his lyrics in four languages (Wolof, Mandinka, Soninke and English) talk about weighty topics such as development in Africa, poverty and famine, ancestors and faith. It can’t be said, however, that the music is similarly weighty. Touré’s lyrics are set to a soft’n’easy mix of soul-funk, reggae, rock and Senegalese rhythms that blend into something generic and inoffensive, further marred by frequent wailing rock guitar solos that never stop sounding out-of-place.

Here and there, moments do stand out with interesting Wolof melodies, influences from mbalax or the occasional darker and more atmospheric track (such as ‘Yeurmande’) but those moments are exceptions to the whole. Touré’s skills as a singer are evident, but are let down by uninspired backing. A missed opportunity.

Dandana - Free the System

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 161, October 2020.

Dandana
Free the System
Rebel Up Records (40 mins)

About this album, Dandana say ‘the old system can’t easily deal with young or new ideas.’ In a time where people are rising up against old systems all over the world, it is a message that is being heard more – and louder – than ever.

This is the music of generation gaps. Dandana are made up of traditional musicians who are not afraid to look above and beyond, and of contemporary musicians eager to delve into the depths of musical lore. Often those people are one and the same. With members from the Netherlands, Gambia and Senegal, the group journey across Senegambian soundscapes with electronica as their vehicle – and gather many guests along the way.

It’s an unusual mix – inspirations from the region’s classic psychedelic dance bands such as Guelewar and Ifang Bondi sit very easily alongside electronica production – but it’s one that yields a surprising depth. The result is full of chill dance vibes, ecstatic beats that lend themselves to peaced-out nodding just as well as full-body dancing.

Whether Free the System can help to unite old ways with new ideas and bridge generation gaps remains to be seen. With it, however, Dandana add their voice to a burgeoning international movement that is changing the way of the world as we know it.

Touki - Right of Passage

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 160, August/September 2020.

Touki (Amadou Diagne & Cory Seznec)
Right of Passage
Captain Pouch Records (47 mins)

Franco-American guitar and banjo player Cory Seznec and Senegalese guitarist-turned-kora player Amadou Diagne first met while busking on the streets of Bath – a musical rapport came easily and, over the next decade or so, blossomed into a fully-fledged collaboration and now a debut album recorded at the renowned Real World Studios.

This set is full of easy Americana and Wolof vibes, taking blues from both sides of the Atlantic as starting points for extended tours around the music of both regions. Layers of strings build up rippling, twinkling patterns, out of which blossom forth Diagne’s light, high-pitched voice, or maybe Seznec’s throaty fretless gourd banjo or palmwine guitar. Guests including Ethiopian masenko player Endris Hassen and accordionist Michael Ward-Bergeman broaden the scope further and add different textures without sounding out-of-place.

It is clear that Diagne and Seznec click musically, but it also feels as though their repertoire lacks risks and the fireworks that can happen as a result. Right of Passage goes along smoothly with several cool moments, but it stops short of having a ‘wow’ factor that would put it above the rest.

King’n’Doom - King’n’Doom feat. Cheikh Lô

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 155, March 2020.

King’n’Doom
King’n’Doom feat. Cheikh Lô
Rustical Records (41 mins)

The core of King’n’Doom is Czech production and multi-instrumentalist duo Pavel Šmíd and Martin Piro, but the real heart of this album is its many guest musicians from across West Africa, including, as the title would suggest, Senegalese singer Cheikh Lô (although, confusingly, he only features on three of the 10 tracks…).

The album explodes out of the blocks with ‘Jah’rabi’, a reggae version of the Malian standard ‘Jarabi’ with Lô, Moustafa and Madou Kouyaté on ngonis and Leopold Lô on sabra drums. It’s a good song turned great through the contributions of Vojtěch Svatoš on Hammond organ, ripping up the reggae groove into a dirty blues-funk, and Hawa Kassémady Diabaté of Trio Da Kali, whose soaring voice is nothing short of spine-tingling.

Considering the sheer number of guests on the album – 16 by my count – it has a remarkable cohesion, which is really pleasing to hear, and especially surprising when the musicians were all recorded separately – everywhere from Brno to Bamako to Dakar to a converted caravan at the Colours of Ostrava festival. It doesn’t sound like a European album with a bunch of African influences, either; all the songs sound like they could be a legitimate part of the guest artists’ repertoires, such is the passion and commitment with which they are produced.

Aziz Sahmaoui & University of Gnawa - Poetic Trance

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 147, May 2019.

Aziz Sahmaoui & University of Gnawa
Poetic Trance
Blue Line Productions (51 mins)

Aziz Sahmaoui, Moroccan co-founder of the legendary Orchestre National de Barbès, is back for a third album with his group University of Gnawa; together they explore the historic connections between the Gnawa of Morocco and the Mandé world to the south using music as their magnifying glass.

Aside from Sahmaoui himself providing lead vocals, ngoni and mandola, the core of the band are three Senegalese musicians, Alune Wade on bass, Hervé Samb on guitar and Cheikh Diallo on kora and keys. All three also sing, and so the Senegalese – and especially Wolof – sound is incredibly pervasive throughout. The Senegalese and North African elements are tumbled together with rock and reggae, making the end result rather poppy, actually.

Despite what the band name would suggest, though, there’s less Gnawa on the album than you’d expect. It’s a shame, because the strongest tracks on the album are the ones where it is brought to the fore, such as in ‘Soudani ya Yémma’ and ‘Sotanbi.’ It’s on these tracks that the album’s stated brief of ‘exposing universal truths’ of the connections between North and West Africa seems closest to being realised. Elsewhere, it just feels neither here nor there.

Batch Gueye - Xamle

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 134, January/February 2018.

Batch Gueye
Xamle
Self-released (45 mins)

Growing up as a dancer in Senegal and reinventing himself as a singer in the UK, Batch Gueye is starting to make a name for himself and now comes out with his second full-length album.

Most of the album has an acoustic feel with twinkling guitars, kora and xalam (lute) creating a bright field of sound for Gueye’s high-pitched Wolof vocals. Backed by traditional drums and percussion instead of a drum kit, it all adds to a laid-back vibe that runs all the way through.

Unfortunately, compared to his impressive debut album, 2015’s Ndiarigne, this follow-up falls a little flat. On Xamle, he seems to have played it too safe, rather than improving the good thing he had going. Every track here seems to have the same atmosphere to it, making it all somewhat repetitious and unexciting by the end.

A small exception is an interesting bonus at the end of the album: ‘Fans Club’ is a club-focused track with drum machines and synths galore that shows Gueye in a different light, which is quite fun. It’s just a bit of a shame that Xamle doesn’t live up to what came before.

Takeifa - Gass Giss

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 131, October 2017.

Takeifa
Gass Giss
Keyzit (36 mins)

Takeifa keep it in the family: the five members are all siblings. Four brothers and a sister of the Keita family from Senegal bring together guitar, drums, bass, voice and a bit of rap to create a mix of pop, soul and what they call ‘Afro*Rock’.

Gass Giss – Wolof for ‘Whoever Searches Will Find’ – is the band’s third album but it doesn’t offer much to help it stand out in the crowd, even with special guest Baaba Maal providing vocals on ‘Ndanane’.

The heavier the music gets, the more fun it becomes, so it’s a shame that it doesn’t flex its muscles more often. The track ‘Fire’ has a heavy beat and distorted guitar melting into a blasting flute solo, but falls back into bland pop before too long. There are enjoyable moments here and there – ‘Supporter’ has some cool raps, for example – but if you want cheerful and cheesy Afro-pop, there are many better examples to choose from.

Solo & Indrė - Solo & Indrė

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 114, January/February 2016.

Solo & Indrė
Solo & Indrė
One Root Music/Granvat (49 mins)

Cross-cultural kora and string collaborations have been rather in vogue for the last couple of years, and for good reason: they often yield wonderful (or at least interesting) results. The duo of Solo Cissokho and Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė is no different.

While Senegalese griot Solo brings his kora, Indrė brings the Lithuanian tradition with the kanklės, a plucked zither. The mix of Baltic and West African folk styles is an unlikely one, but the sound it creates is relaxing, thoughtful and oddly saddening, in the most beautiful way.

The two vocal traditions are very different, and so aren’t really blended here – rather, they sit beside each other, neither encroaching too far on the other. When the strings play together, however, the styles mix beautifully, with the different melodies and harmonies dancing around and between each other; it’s often hard to tell where one instrument ends and the other begins.

Maybe the album would benefit from having a few more Lithuanian-based pieces, but the tracks that are here still work together to make a great album. Hopefully this collaboration will continue to flourish into the future.

Cheikh Lô - WOMEX 15 Artist Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2015 delegate guide.



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.

Modou Touré & Ramon Goose - The West African Blues Project

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 110, August/September 2015.

Modou Touré & Ramon Goose
The West African Blues Project
ARC Music (48 mins)

The easiest way to describe The West African Blues Project is that it does exactly what it says on the cover. The connections between West African music and the blues have been explored on record many times, although it still manages to produce delicious fruit.

British blues guitarist Ramon Goose has certainly put in his time collaborating with West African musicians, having recently worked in projects alongside Diabel Cissokho, Daby Touré, Noumoucounda Cissoko and Atongo Zimba, as well as many names from the worlds of blues and beyond. Here, Goose is joined by Senegalese rising star Modou Touré, whose capable voice works equally well in the soulful Wolof styles as it does on bluesier pieces such as ‘Casamance River Blues’. The musicians clearly gel very well, and their mutual enjoyment is easy to hear.

Some of the tracks on this album feel a little too slick and produced for this reviewer, with the highlights coming in the form of the rootsier, earthier pieces, where the blues takes centre stage and Modou’s voice is allowed to flow along with it.

This probably isn’t the most effortless of African blues albums, but nevertheless, it’s hard to deny that the blues is rarely this upbeat or uplifting.

Kadialy Kouyate & Leonard Jacome - Rhythms of the Atlantic

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 108, June 2015.

Kadialy Kouyate & Leonard Jacome
Rhythms of the Atlantic
Self-released (42 mins)

The premise of this album may seem a little familiar: a cross-cultural harp collaboration between Senegalese kora maestro Kadialy Kouyate and Venezuelan harpist Leonard Jacome. It’s unfortunate but inevitable that any work will now be compared to Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita’s stunning 2013 release Clychau Dibon, but don’t make the mistake of thinking this album will be the-same-but-different.

Whereas the earlier fusion revelled in the ethereal qualities of the instruments, Kouyate and Jacome use theirs to groove. The harp’s lower register provides often funky basslines that, along with the unobtrusive calabash of Mamadou Sarr, give the Mandé griot and Venezuelan Joropo melodies the ground to dance on.

Most of the pieces here are written by Kouyate (save for the cheerful ‘Kora Ralencina’ and the harp solo ‘Solo con mis Cuerdas’, both by Jacome), and it is the Venezuelan’s harp that provides many of the thicker textures and most versatile timbres – at various times sounding like a harpsichord, jazz guitar or glockenspiel – but really, to analyse each musician’s individual role feels a little disingenuous, so tightly do the two string players intertwine.

This is a great and different album – don’t be fooled into making easy comparisons.

Batch Gueye - Ndiarigne

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 104, January/February 2015.

Batch Gueye
Ndiarigne
Self-released (68 mins)

In his native Senegal, Batch Gueye performed mainly as a dancer, but since moving to Bristol, he has honed his skills as a musician and singer, and has been slowly gaining more recognition, winning the World Music Network’s Battle of the Bands, playing at WOMAD and supporting Fatoumata Diawara on her recent tour.

Ndiarigne is Gueye’s first full album, and with it, he gives a good show of his abilities both as a singer and bandleader. The group manoeuvre from thoughtful pieces in praise of the Baye Fall saints (the Sufi sect to which Gueye belongs) to tracks obviously designed for a dance session, with the leader adding his unique voice all the while. There are some great performances from within his band too – an all-African affair, recorded in Senegal, as opposed to his usual British-based group – with kora, xalam and backing vocals all standing out at various points throughout the album.

A few things do need to be ironed out here – some of the tracks feel a little repetitive and the album’s changes in mood could perhaps be smoother, but these are small things, and shouldn’t take away from the fact that Ndiarigne is an impressive debut album.

Sousou & Maher Cissoko - Africa Moo Baalu

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 100, June 2014.

Sousou & Maher Cissoko
Africa Moo Baalu
ARC Music (56 mins)

Africa Moo Baalu means ’big people of Africa,’ and the album effectively reads as an open letter to leaders in Africa and around the world, following the increasingly familiar narrative of calling for peace across the troubled continent.

Hailing from a venerated griot family in Senegal, Maher Cissoko feels it his duty to spread this message through his songs. Sousou Cissoko, on the other hand, despite being trained in classical and folk music in her native Sweden, points out that this album is not a blending of Senegalese and Swedish music, but rather the duo exploring their own music together. In practice, however, aside from occasional verses in English or Swedish, the album is very much Senegalese, often leaving Sousou’s European-style guitar sounding fairly redundant.

Maher’s performances here are more than proficient, especially when he gets a chance to shine on the solo kora (harp-lute) piece ‘Maki’, but the arrangements on this album do seem to stifle his playing and, as a result, it is hard to tell if he is playing to his full potential.

This is inoffensive stuff but pushes no boundaries, and in the end it does feel like it’s all been done before. A nevertheless pleasant and listenable album.

Seckou Keita - Miro

First published on Musika.uk.com in November 2012.

Seckou Keita
Miro
Astar Artes Recordings (48 mins)

Senegalese kora (harp-lute) player Seckou Keita here presents his fourth solo album, Miro, featuring many musicians who were involved with Keita’s Bantamba Syndicate project, which was presented as part of the BT River of Music festival in London earlier this year.

The album’s first track ‘Rewmi’ (a Wolof word meaning ‘country’) was a hit in Senegal before the February presidential election which saw the end of Abdoulaye Wade’s 12-year premiership. Whether the track (which calls for peace and beckons listeners to fight disease and hunger) had a hand in this result as the album’s press material seems to suggest is another matter, but the piece itself is a strong album opener – the interplay between Keita’s kora and Cuban bassist Michel ‘Pata’ Salazar is tight and an effective accompaniment to the vocal harmonies of Binta Suso and Mariama Kouyate.

Unfortunately, after this promising opener, the album seems to settle into something less exciting. Seckou aligns himself with the griots lineage of his mother (a Cissokho) rather than the royal heritage that the name Keita implies, and sees Miro as an attempt to “step back towards [his] tradition”. However, in practice, the album seems tempered towards European tastes and ideas of what makes ‘world music’ and as such seems to assume a fairly middle-of-the-road sound dissimilar to his previous albums of slightly more challenging, and thus more interesting, music.

Which is not to say that the album lacks its standout tracks, however. Aside from ‘Rewmi’, the highlights for this reviewer are incidentally the most stripped-back pieces on the album, both featuring Keita’s kora as the only instrumentation, helping to showcase the talent of guest singers. The track ‘Tara’, a traditional Mande piece, is given a new edge by the soul-inspired vocals of Ivorian singer Mohamed Diaby. Diaby also features on the track ‘Hino’, but defers lead duties to Spanish singer Inma La Carbonera. This Mande-flamenco cross-cultural collaboration is perhaps the album’s most effective track, La Carbonera’s voice aching beautifully in front of the kora; it’s also where Keita is at his most innovative, having had to adapt a new kora tuning to be able to play in the flamenco style.

Miro certainly has its moments, but a seeming lack of decisiveness between a fully-traditional sound and a Western-market friendly release leaves many disappointing tracks in between, meaning that the album perhaps lends itself more to the pick-and-choose ideology of digital downloading than a purchase of the whole album as a piece of art in its own right.