A sophomore three-tracker: singer Mbene Diatta Seck in sombre consideration of street-kids and parental neglect, buoyed by propulsive drumming and trenchant bass; a second version without vocals, laying bare the poly-rhythmic interplay between marimba and percussion; and a mesmeric six-minute instrumental, with bassist Thierno Sarr grooving out on the top string of his instrument, bringing an elusive Manding flavor to the deep Mbalax mix.



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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
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Germany
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A stunning new production by Mark Ernestus, drawn from his recordings with some of Senegal’s greatest musicians — a griot clan of Sabar drummers from Kaolack in Senegal, led by Bakane Seck, with guest players and vocalists. Jeri-Jeri’s style of Mbalax is swingingly masterful — heady and hard-grooving, with highly complex, fiercely succinct poly-rhythms — an ancient-futuristic music, mesmeric but sharp as nails, super-charged with drama. Featuring the lovelorn vocals of guest Mbene Diatta Seck, Sabar traditions are fused with furious Afro-Cubanismo, hard funk-rock, and shards of high-life. Ernestus’ nasty, hypnotic, stripped dub — a Mbalax first — edges in the bass, profiles the talmbat and tungune drums, and scoops the semantics out of the vocal.

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Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Khadim is a stunning reconfiguration of the Ndagga Rhythm Force sound. The instrumentation is radically pared down. The guitar is gone; the concatenation of sabars; the drum-kit. Each of the four tracks hones in on just one or two drummers; otherwise the sole recorded element is the singing; everything else is programmed. Synths are dialogically locked into the drumming. Tellingly, Ernestus has reached for his beloved Prophet-5, a signature go-to since Basic Channel days, thirty years ago. Texturally, the sound is more dubwise; prickling with effects. There is a new spaciousness, announced at the start by the ambient sounds of Dakar street-life. At the microphone, Mbene Diatta Seck revels in this new openness: mbalax diva, she feelingly turns each of the four songs into a discrete dramatic episode, using different sets of rhetorical techniques. The music throughout is taut, grooving, complex, like before; but more volatile, intuitive and reaching, with turbulent emotional and spiritual expressivity.

Not that Khadim represents any kind of break. Its transformativeness is rooted in the hundreds upon hundreds of hours the Rhythm Force has played together. Nearly a decade has passed since Yermande, the unit's previous album. Every year throughout that period — barring lockdowns — the group has toured extensively, in Europe, the US, and Japan. With improvisation at the core of its music-making, each performance has been evolutionary, as it turns out heading towards Khadim. “I didn’t want to simply continue with the same formula," says Ernestus. “I preferred to wait for a new approach. Playing live so many times, I wanted to capture some of the energy and freedom of those performances.” Though several members of the touring ensemble sit out this recording — sabar drummers, kit-drummer, synth-player — their presence abides in the structure and swing of the music here.

Lamp Fall is a homage to Cheikh Ibra Fall, founder of the Baye Fall spiritual community. The mosque in the city of Touba is known as Lamp Fall, because the main tower resembles a lantern. Soy duggu Touba, moom guey séen / When you enter Touba, he is the one who greets you. After a swift, incantatory start Mbene sings with reflective seriousness. Her voice swirls with reverb, over a tight, funky, propulsive interplay between synth and drums, threaded with one-two jabs of bass. Cheikh Ibra Fall mi may way, mo diayndiou ré, la mu jëndé ko taalibe... Cheikh Ibra Fall amo morome, aboridial / Cheikh Ibra Fall shows the way forward, he gives us strength, he gathers his disciples... Overflowing with grace, Cheikh Ibra Fall has no equal.

Interwoven with Wolof proverbs, Dieuw Bakhul is a recriminatory song about treachery, lies, and back-biting. Over moody, roiling synths and ominous, lean bass, Mbene throws out fluttering scraps of vocal, as if re-running old conversations in her head. The music shadows her despair to the verge of breakdown, at one moment seemingly so lost in thought and memories, that it threatens to disintegrate. Bayilene di wor seen xarit ak seen an da ndo... Dieuw bakhul, dieuw ñaw na / Stop judging your friends and companions... A lie is no good, a lie is ugly.

Khadim is a show-stopper; currently the centrepiece of Ndagga Rhythm Force live performances. The song is dedicated to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, aka Khadim, founder of the Mouride Sufi order. Serigne Bamba mi may wayeu / Serigne Bamba is the one who makes me sing. The verses name-check revered members of his family and brotherhood, like Sokhna Diarra, Mame Thierno, and Serigne Bara. Though Islam has been practised in Senegal for a millennium, it wasn’t until the start of the twentieth century that it began to thoroughly permeate ordinary Senegalese society, hand-in-hand with anti-colonialism. The verses here recall Bamba’s banishment by the French to Gabon, and later to Mauritania, in those foundational times. During exile, his captors once introduced a lion to his cell: gaïnde gua waf, dieba lu ci Cheikhoul Khadim / the lion doesn’t budge, it gives itself over to Cheikh Khadim. Deep, surging bass, steady kick-drum, and simple, reverbed chords on the off-beat lend the feel and impetus of steppers reggae. A reed plays snatches of a traditional Baye Fall melody; the dazzling polyrhythmic drumming is by Serigne Mamoune Seck. Mbene compellingly blends percussive vocalese, narrative suspense, exultant praise, introspection, and grievance.

Nimzat is a devotional tribute to Cheikh Sadbou, a contemporary of Bamba, buried in a mausoleum in Nizmat, in southern Mauritania. Way nala, kagne nala... souma danana fata dale / I call upon you and wonder about you... If I am overwhelmed, come to my aid. The town holds special significance for Khadr Sufism. An annual pilgrimage there is conducted to this day. The rhythm is buoyantly funky; the mood is sombre, reined-in, foreboding. Punctuated by peals of thunder, Mbene sings with restrained, intense reverence; huskily confidential, steadfast. Nanu dem ba Nimzat, dé ba sali khina / Let us go to Nimzat, to seal our devotion.

Mbene Diatta Seck: vocals.
Bada Seck: bougarabou, thiol, mbeung mbeung bal, tungune.
Serigne Mamoune Seck: bougarabou, khine, mbeung mbeung, tungune.
Text by Mark Ainley (Honest Jons).
Mastered by Rashad Becker.
Everything else by Mark Ernestus.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Smart bomb alert! Senegalese Mbalax derivatives in approved Dub mode.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Five years into the project, with two acclaimed albums and dozens of triumphant international performances to its name, Yermande announces a thrilling new phase for this Dakar-Berlin collaboration: emphatically a giant step forward.
The group of players is boiled down to twelve for recordings, eight for shows; sessions in Dakar become steeply more focussed. ‘This time around I was better able to specify what I wanted right from the initial recording sessions in Dakar,’ says Ernestus, 'and further in the production process I took more freedom in reducing and editing audio tracks, changing MIDI data, replacing synth sounds and introducing electronic drum samples.’
Right away you hear music-making which has come startlingly into its own. Rather than submitting to the routine, discrete gradations of recording, producing and mixing, the music is tangibly permeated with deadly intent from the off. Lethally it plays a coiled, clipped, percussive venom and thumping bass against the soaring, open-throated spirituality of Mbene Seck’s singing. Plainly expert, drilled and rooted, the drumming is unpredictable, exclamatory, zinging with life. Likewise the production: intuitive and fresh but utterly attentive; limber but hefty; vividly sculpted against a backdrop of cavernous silence. Six chunks of stunning, next-level mbalax, then, funky as anything.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

A stunning new production by Mark Ernestus, drawn from his recordings with some of Senegal’s greatest musicians — a griot clan of Sabar drummers from Kaolack in Senegal, led by Bakane Seck, with guest players and vocalists. Jeri-Jeri’s style of Mbalax is swingingly masterful — heady and hard-grooving, with highly complex, fiercely succinct poly-rhythms — an ancient-futuristic music, mesmeric but sharp as nails, super-charged with drama. Featuring the lovelorn vocals of guest Mbene Diatta Seck, Sabar traditions are fused with furious Afro-Cubanismo, hard funk-rock, and shards of high-life. Ernestus’ nasty, hypnotic, stripped dub — a Mbalax first — edges in the bass, profiles the talmbat and tungune drums, and scoops the semantics out of the vocal.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Gawlo is a rolling, resplendent tribute to griot life — 'gawlo' is Fula for 'griot' — 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.



Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Smart bomb alert! Senegalese Mbalax derivatives in approved Dub mode.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

A sophomore three-tracker: singer Mbene Diatta Seck in sombre consideration of street-kids and parental neglect, buoyed by propulsive drumming and trenchant bass; a second version without vocals, laying bare the poly-rhythmic interplay between marimba and percussion; and a mesmeric six-minute instrumental, with bassist Thierno Sarr grooving out on the top string of his instrument, bringing an elusive Manding flavor to the deep Mbalax mix.



Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Three killers heralding the next phase of this dazzling expression of a dream Dakar-Berlin nexus. All instrumental — though the opener has snatches of singing — with the vocal versions held back for the new album, out in the Autumn. The music just gets deadlier and deadlier — harder-boiled and deeper; more focussed, confident and dubwise. Evoking the ancient cultural legacy of the griots, 'Walo Walo' is also the name of the sabar rhythm underlying the opener, which features Ibou Mbaye's percussive synth-work, Mangone Ndiaye Dieng's kit-drumming, and Bada Seck's rigorous jolts of lower-pitched Thiol drum. The 'Groove' version is tough as nails; well and truly gnarly. A tribute to the Baye Fall leader, Ndiguel Groove is a sparse, mellow interpretation of the most traditional cut on the album, showcasing Assane Ndoye Cisse’s insinuating guitar lines, Laye Lo’s super-elasticated snare-drumming, and Bada Seck playing the khine drums associated with the Baye Fall. (Short and wide; lightweight but low-pitched.) Pretty awesome.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Jeri-Jeri is the collaboration between the renowned Berlin based producer Mark Ernestus and a griot clan of Sabar drummers from Kaolack in Senegal, led by Bkane Seck, along with guest Mbalax musicians and vocalists - including mainstays of the bands of Baaba Maal, Youssou N'Dour and other top Senegalese artists. Tip!! Aficionados of cutting edge world music and underground dance will have noted Ernestus's remixes of Afrobeat legend Tony Allen and Kinshasa rockers Konono No 1, and his co-compilation (with Honest jon's) of the critically acclaimed Shangaan Electro showcase. On the quiet though, he has become increasingly hooked on Mbalax wih its hyper-vivid Sabar and talking-drum workouts, and ultra-repetative. sick, sequencer-like Marimba synths. In early 2011 he travelled to Senegaland the Gambia in search of original recordings. Through an unlikely set of coincidences, he ended up working in the legendary Dkar studio former known as Xippi, with more than twenty of the findest musicians in the country. 800% Ndagga and Ndagga Versions present the results on two albums, splitting vocals and instrumentals; a masterful style of Mbalax, heady and hard groving, with high complex, fiercely succinct poly-rhythms; an ancient-futuristic music, mesmeric but sharp as nails, super charged with drama.



Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Jeri-Jeri is the collaboration between the renowned Berlin based producer Mark Ernestus and a griot clan of Sabar drummers from Kaolack in Senegal, led by Bkane Seck, along with guest Mbalax musicians and vocalists - including mainstays of the bands of Baaba Maal, Youssou N'Dour and other top Senegalese artists. Tip!! Aficionados of cutting edge world music and underground dance will have noted Ernestus's remixes of Afrobeat legend Tony Allen and Kinshasa rockers Konono No 1, and his co-compilation (with Honest jon's) of the critically acclaimed Shangaan Electro showcase. On the quiet though, he has become increasingly hooked on Mbalax wih its hyper-vivid Sabar and talking-drum workouts, and ultra-repetative. sick, sequencer-like Marimba synths. In early 2011 he travelled to Senegaland the Gambia in search of original recordings. Through an unlikely set of coincidences, he ended up working in the legendary Dkar studio former known as Xippi, with more than twenty of the findest musicians in the country. 800% Ndagga and Ndagga Versions present the results on two albums, splitting vocals and instrumentals; a masterful style of Mbalax, heady and hard groving, with high complex, fiercely succinct poly-rhythms; an ancient-futuristic music, mesmeric but sharp as nails, super charged with drama.



Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Jeri-Jeri is the collaboration between the renowned Berlin based producer Mark Ernestus and a griot clan of Sabar drummers from Kaolack in Senegal, led by Bkane Seck, along with guest Mbalax musicians and vocalists - including mainstays of the bands of Baaba Maal, Youssou N'Dour and other top Senegalese artists. Tip!! Aficionados of cutting edge world music and underground dance will have noted Ernestus's remixes of Afrobeat legend Tony Allen and Kinshasa rockers Konono No 1, and his co-compilation (with Honest jon's) of the critically acclaimed Shangaan Electro showcase. On the quiet though, he has become increasingly hooked on Mbalax wih its hyper-vivid Sabar and talking-drum workouts, and ultra-repetative. sick, sequencer-like Marimba synths. In early 2011 he travelled to Senegaland the Gambia in search of original recordings. Through an unlikely set of coincidences, he ended up working in the legendary Dkar studio former known as Xippi, with more than twenty of the findest musicians in the country. 800% Ndagga and Ndagga Versions present the results on two albums, splitting vocals and instrumentals; a masterful style of Mbalax, heady and hard groving, with high complex, fiercely succinct poly-rhythms; an ancient-futuristic music, mesmeric but sharp as nails, super charged with drama.



Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Jeri-Jeri is the collaboration between the renowned Berlin based producer Mark Ernestus and a griot clan of Sabar drummers from Kaolack in Senegal, led by Bkane Seck, along with guest Mbalax musicians and vocalists - including mainstays of the bands of Baaba Maal, Youssou N'Dour and other top Senegalese artists. Tip!! Aficionados of cutting edge world music and underground dance will have noted Ernestus's remixes of Afrobeat legend Tony Allen and Kinshasa rockers Konono No 1, and his co-compilation (with Honest jon's) of the critically acclaimed Shangaan Electro showcase. On the quiet though, he has become increasingly hooked on Mbalax wih its hyper-vivid Sabar and talking-drum workouts, and ultra-repetative. sick, sequencer-like Marimba synths. In early 2011 he travelled to Senegaland the Gambia in search of original recordings. Through an unlikely set of coincidences, he ended up working in the legendary Dkar studio former known as Xippi, with more than twenty of the findest musicians in the country. 800% Ndagga and Ndagga Versions present the results on two albums, splitting vocals and instrumentals; a masterful style of Mbalax, heady and hard groving, with high complex, fiercely succinct poly-rhythms; an ancient-futuristic music, mesmeric but sharp as nails, super charged with drama.



Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore