Cheikh Lo - Bambay Gueej [FLAC] TQMP

Cheikh N'Digel Lo - Bambay Gueej

1999



Brought to you by TQMP

The Quality Music Project



"[Afro-Cuban music] was my school. I never had the chance to go to school a more how to play the drums, or the guitar, or anything like that.  Where we received our schooling was through listening, lots of listening.  And the impression from listening to Cuban music was strong, and stayed within us, like an imprint.  You can?t erase it.  I think it?s also a return to sources for the Cubans.  They left with that.  They left Africa, and they took something with them.  And in listening, we sense that.  Maybe we learned in school who the Cubans are, so that we would know the history.  But we could sense it right away, by listening."

-- Cheikh Lo



Bambay Gueej (Bamba, Ocean of Peace) is Cheikh Lo's follow up to his highly acclaimed 1996 debut album Ne La Thiass. The nine new tracks on this recording were co-produced by Nick Gold and Youssou N'Dour and were recorded at N'Dour's Xippi Studio in Dakar, with additional recording in Havana and London.This album finds Cheikh Lo in an even sweeter voice, with his Dakar-based "N'Diguel" band augmented by very special guests Richard Egues (flute), Pee Wee Ellis (horns), Oumou Sangare (vocals), and Bigga Morrison (Hammond organ). Adding to the rippling Senegalese m'balax rhythms, felicitous Latin inflections, and spiritual intensity of his debut, Cheikh Lo draws on sounds from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Congo and adds influences from Cuba, subtle reggae and blasting African funk into the mix.



Pee Wee Ellis, erstwhile James Brown horn arranger and saxophonist during the Heavy Funk period of Cold Sweat and musical director for Van Morrison, fell in love with Lo's music on first hearing. To Lo, who grew up listening to the sounds of James Brown, the arrival of Pee Wee at the Dakar sessions was akin to a homecoming. Ellis's arrangements, in particular on the title track "Bambay Gueej" (which includes the groove-driven Hammond organ of Aswad's Bigga Morrison, and a spontaneous vocal tribute to Fela Kuti), add a new dimension to the mix.



Lo was nurtured on Cuban music, and he names Richard Egues, for years the mainstay of the Orquesta Aragon, as his favorite musician. Egues, in his 80s during the recording of this record, gives a performance on "M'Beddemi" that was a dream come true for Lo. The Cuban connection is also present on "Jeunesse Senegal" with its spectacular Havana trumpet section featuring members of the Afro-Cuban All Stars.



Lo heard Malian diva Oumou Sangare through their mutual label, World Circuit. They first met at the 1997 Kora Awards in South Africa, where Lo was named Best Newcomer. When he penned "Bobo-Dioulasso," sung in Bambara and dedicated to his hometown in Burkina Faso, Lo immediately thought of her for this atmospheric duet.



Lo is a very spiritual man and the album is dedicated to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, the founder of Senegal's main Muslim brotherhood, Mouridism. The final track, "Zikr," with backing vocals from N'Dour, is a lilting, lyrical adaptation of a traditional chant of the Baye Fall, a branch of Mouridism that Lo follows.



Lo is featured not only as lead vocal, but also on rhythm guitar, drums, and percussion, and his band retains the core of musicians from his first album: Oumar Sow (guitar), Pathé Jassy (bass guitar), Samba N'Dokh M'Baye (tama -talking drum), Thio M'Baye (percussion and Sabar drums), Thierno Kouyate (alto and tenor saxophones), and Badou N'Diaye (drums on "Bamba Gueej"). Members of N'Dour's Super Etoile, Babacar Faye (percussion) and Habib Faye (bass, acoustic guitar), make additional contributions.

-- nonesuch.com



The beauty of Lo's debut, Né la Thiass ("Night and Day"), was its layered mbalax rhythms and Lo's melodic singing. On Bambay Gueej ("Bamba, Ocean of Peace"), Lo adorns these elements with funk and soul, satisfying fans of his music while drawing new ones. Bambay again features a forest of talking drums, the acoustic guitar, and Afro-Cuban horns, but the sound is more polished and the rhythms are more pronounced. James Brown's horn player, Pee Wee Ellis, arranged the brass in stronger outlines, and a Hammond organ floats into the mix. Lo's bright, raspy vocals on Né la Thiass sent chills up the spine as messages of spirituality soared to the heavens. His buoyant singing returns here, still dancing as delicately as an angel but not necessarily over music that's as vaporous as clouds. "N'Jarinu Garab" ("The Tree") is one of the more infectious cuts, as is the funky "Bambay Gueej." Oumou Sangare's warm, watery voice appears on "Bobo Doulasso," dousing the grit of Lo's while conjuring a Malian folksong newly dressed in R&B clothes. This is a fine follow-up for Lo, not only due to his enormous talent, but also because he has a fully formed vision of who he is and what he's musically about.

-- amazon.com





Track List

01- M'Beddemi

02- Jeunesse Senegal

03- N'Jarinu Garab

04- Bambay Gueej

05- N'Dawsile

06- Africaden

07- Bobo-Dioulasso

08- N'Dokh

09- Zikr



Credits --

Cheikh N'Digel Lo, lead vocal, rhythm guitar, drums, percussion

Oumar Sow, guitars

Pathé Jassy, bass

Samba N'Dokh M'Baye, tama [talking drum]

Thio M'Baye, percussion (4, 5, 6)

Babacar Faye, percussion (2, 3, 8)

Thierno Kouyate, alto and tenor saxophones

Habib Faye, bass and acoustic guitar (5)

Badou N'Diaye, drums (4)

Pee Wee Ellis, horn arrangements, tenor and baritone saxophones, Hammond organ (7)

Raul D'Oliveira, trumpet

Joe de Jesus, trombone

Daniel Ramos, Yanko Pisaco, Yaure Muniz, trumpets ("Jeunesse Senegal") arranged by Juan de Marcos Gonzalez

Williams Cumberbache, congas (1)

Carlos Gonzalez, bongos (7)

Richard Egues, flute (1)

Bigga Morrison, Hammond organ (4, 6)

Oumou Sangare, vocal (7)



Artwork, EAC log and CUE sheet included.



Audio format: FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)

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