Label: Honest Jon's Records
西アフリカ・セネガルの伝統的な太鼓サバールの巨匠であり、500に及ぶオリジナルのドラムパターン・システムを構築したドウドウ・ンダイェ・ローズ。惜しくも2015年に他界してしまいましたが、本作は氏の意志を受け継ぐ家族達が、ダカール郊外にある赤い水を湛えた神秘的な潟湖ラックローズで敢行した7日間に及ぶノンストップのレコーディング。オーバーダブ無しのシングルテイクが纏められた、まさに骨太な内容に仕上がっており、総じてスリリング且つ強靭なポリリズムが続く超傑作。
Magnificent Wolof drum music, performed by an extended griot family in the mystical setting of Lac Rose, outside Dakar.
Doudou Ndiaye Rose — who died in 2015 — is a key drummer in the musical history of the world. He developed a system of five hundred original drumming patterns, ancient and new. Amongst the modern rhythms here is Bench Mi — ‘under the Baobab tree,’ a spot where where problems get solved. Also Hibar Yi — ‘passing on information’ — the theme-tune of Senegalese TV national news for decades — and Les Rosettes, the signature rhythm of Senegal’s first ever all-female percussion group, convened by Doudou, and named after his grandmother.
These original compositions sit alongside important traditional rhythms, familiar to every Sabar player, such as Farwu Jar ( a courtship game sometimes resulting in a wedding), Ceebu Jin (also the name of the national dish of fish and rice), and Gumbé, often played after a successful harvest.
Recorded in joyful single takes, over seven consecutive days in February 2020, with no overdubs, mastered by Rashad Becker, the music is deep and thrilling, polyrhythmic to the bone, with a complex, pointillistic intensity at times evoking Jeff Mills in full flight.