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Baaba
Maal and One Giant leap by Dermot Watson
 Baaba
Maal and One Giant Leap are without doubt two of the finest
exponents of cultural cross-fertilization in the music
biz today. Touching down in Brighton this month we can
expect an evening of truly global dimensions.
Hailing
from Podor, a small village on the banks of the river
Senegal, Baaba Maal is firmly set to become West Africa's
first truly international music star: he's even performed
a song at the World Cup. Exuding all the necessary prerequisites
of charm, drive and vision, he's the man to take World
Music from the margins where it has gathered dust for
far too long.
James
Brown and Otis Redding was his music of choice growing
up, although he was grounded in the repetitive rhythms
of traditional West-African sounds. Winning an arts scholarship
to study in Dakar, he later went on to join Asly Fouta,
a local group comprising 70 musicians, despite a certain
amount of opposition; Baaba does not belong to the Griot
caste, the traditional hereditary line of musicians.
The
young Baaba set off to learn as much about local culture,
music and politics as possible, spending his post-college
years touring with guitarist and friend Monsour Seck (who
was to become a long-term collaborator): "When you
arrive in every village you do a gig. This makes you friendly
with all the young people who are in the village. The
next day the young people take you to visit the oldest
person who knows about the history of the village and
the country and about the history of the music,"
he explains.
A
further period of study at the Conservatoire de Beaux
Arts in Paris granted him an even wider historical and
musical knowledge to draw from.
And
bearing this in mind, here is more than just a musician;
Baaba is keen to carry a message from Africa to the world:
"I talk to a lot of musicians and intellectual people
in Africa and they see my way as a kind of reference -
to be part of the world in general but also deeply African.
People have got to know how to talk about Africa, how
to define Africa. I want people to see Africa with new
eyes, to know that it is not dead, it is always alive
and people can give confidence to Africa. We have a lot
of strong people who really want to do something, who
really want to participate in the universal development
of Africa".
Missing
You, his latest album, is an acoustic delight, bringing
on board the sounds of Mali, Guinea, in addition to the
yela and mbalax traditions of Senegal. Unlike his previous
records, Baaba has not looked abroad for inspiration,
but instead to neighbouring parts of West Africa. Recorded
over a number of relaxed, outdoor sessions, the album
fizzes with the magical sound of Africa by night, and
includes a chorus of crickets and the atmospheric thrum
of village life: "This is where I take my sound from,"
he explains. "I mix my traditional background and
my experiences of life. This is where I take my inspiration
from."
What
does the future hold for him? "I want to be more
international and well known. But at the same time I don't
want to turn my back to Africa and my roots. I want to
make it the same line between here and the rest of the
world. Not to work in the international market and then
come back here and work in this market. The whole world
has to share and when you're talking about sharing you
have to forgive. Everything should be connected to one
whole project that is more universal." Surely one
of the better definitions of globalization to date.
One
Giant Leap, whose eponymously titled debut album appears
on Baaba Maal's own Palm Pictures record label, features
the talents of Jamie Catto, formerly of Faithless, and
producer Duncan Bridgeman. Originally conceived as a musical
road-trip with accompanying audio and video recording
equipment, the project grew into something far more extensive
than either originally intended. Spending six months on
the road, they visited two dozen countries across the
globe, dropping in unannounced on their favourite artists,
musicians and writers. The resulting aural patchwork features
contributions from Neneh Cherry, Baaba Maal, Kurt Vonnegut,
and a host of disparate musicians including a Ugandan
xylophone orchestra and a Ghanaian drumming troupe. Robbie
Williams even makes an appearance in a face-off with rapper
Maxi Jazz... but don't hold that against it. Personal
highlights include Bollywood queen Asha Bhosle's contribution
to the epic The Way You Dream - accompanied by a fragile,
warbling Michael Stipe.
If,
on paper, this sounds like a grossly bloated blancmange
of an idea, rest assured - everything sounds natural and
unforced; any unfortunate similarities to Deep Forest
are incidental.
One
in the eye for folk 'purists': and all that's left to
say is that this is an unmissable event.
Baaba
Maal and One Giant Leap at Dome Concert Hall, June 7,
8pm, tickets £8-£16
copyright New Insight 2002
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