funk / dub roots

funk / afro

mbalax derived rhythm textures in visionary, purist version style - killer stuff!

original senegalese mbalax music produced by mark ernestus, incl. instrumental versions.

mark ernestus presents jeri-jeris swingingly masterful style of mbalax b/w hypnotic, stripped dub

six chunks of stunning, next-level mbalax, then, funky as anything

gawlo is a rolling, resplendent tribute to griot life ù gawlo is fula for griot ù spear-headed by none other than baaba maal. superbly expressive interjections by a trio of talking drums are especially lucid on the instrumental version. on the flip, lignou mome is an exhilarating straight-no-chaser of galloping drums, bad-minded bass and layered guitar, before ndeye gueye wraps up proceedings with a third instrumental, propelled by terse, hypnotic figures on guitar and marimba synth. with the drum-kit unattended, octogenarian legend doudou ndiaye rose features on lead sabar.

the opener is a traditional jola rhythm, typically fast and energetic, with tuned, talking and kit drums swarming over a kind of skeletal downhome guitar, somewhere between blues and disco. the mboup brothers make a soaring, impassioned plea for an end to division and bloodshed in their casamance homeland. then a more deeply dug-in, spaced-out funk, edgily spun from a serer rhythm, underpinning mbenes reflective song about parental sacrifice. sama yaye, my mother. both with full instrumental versions.