Uniquely talented Senegalese vocalist and guitarist, Baaba Maal, thrilled Kenyan fans recently at Sarakasi Dome with great fusion of Yela and Mbalax music, writes CRYSTAL OKUSA
Dressed in an old school plaid black and white jacket and black pants, Baaba Maal brushes aside strands of dreadlocks away from his face as he crosses his legs. With a strong Senegalese accent he quickly explains about his tour.
"I am here to promote the millennium development mission of climate change. My last tour was to be the voice of the people through climate change, followed by the Copenhagen Conference.
I’m back on the same mission because we are not happy with the response we received after the conference," says Baaba Maal.
The talented singer who also strums an acoustic guitar is one of the world’s hottest performers.
It is his second time to come to Kenya as a United Nations Development Project (UNDP) youth ambassador through the BBC World Trust.
Baaba Maal, 56, was in Kenya in 2008 during his world tour, which he recorded, On the Road album, mainly from his live concerts.
And unlike the other Yela and Mbalax genre musicians who hail from Wolof ethnic group, Baaba Maal is a Pulaar — Fulani which is minority from Northern Senegal — and does not hail from a griot (traditional musician) lineage. He is also scholar as well as a singer and has spent much of his life studying his heritage.
A few years ago, Baaba Maal featured on Gidi Gid Maji Maji’s single, Tumbo off the South African produced album Many Faces.
The then Gallo Records signed Kenyan artistes decided to feature the traditional fusion singer on the song which warns greedy leaders and Africans in general.
The globetrotting singer recenly also featured on Eric Wainaina’s upcoming album and will also be recording a video during his stay in Kenya.
"I do not know many Kenya musicians but I am looking forward to collaborate with traditional fusion musicians to promote our culture as Africans and not just for business," explains Baaba Maal.
And in his characteristic high-energy performance, Baaba Maal hit the stage later on that night during Eric Wainaina’s performance of hit single Ritwa Riaku at the Sarakasi Dome with his passion and zeal.
Peace ambassador
The musician who expresses his advocacy for of peace released a studio album Television in June last year after a long break.
Television is a collaboration with female Brazilian singers from New York and is more of a fusion of electro and pop genres. "The album title expresses technological growth and development of Africa as a continent, " he says.
After releasing Baayo, Baaba Maal was signed by Chris Blackwell of Island Records. To date, he still starts all his concerts with that song to educate youths about the dangers in society.
"I started small in my home town Podor before going to Dakar to make more music. I later went to France to study music and that is where I met Chris Blackwell from Island Records, who was interested in recording me. They are still my producers up till today," he adds.
Baaba Maal journey to music began with his sight challenged childhood friend Mansour Seck with whom they formed a musical group Wandama, when he was still studying music at the Conservatoire des Beaux Arts in Paris, France.
When he lost his mother he came back to settle in Senegal, and formed a group Daande Le nol (Voice of the people).
The band of nine singers went round Senegal educating citizenson social issues and was later noticed by the UNDP.
"Before I started working as a UNDP ambassador, the role of my music was to be the voice of the people. We were invited to perform at a program development event, the UNDP saw the connection between my songs and culture and development," he explains.
Baaba Maal has worked with various artistes including Angelique Kidjo, Fela Kuti, Youssou N’dour and Bono, among others on humanitarian projects.
"I had been travelling around the world and I felt I had to take something back home for my people. I stopped recording to organise Blue Festival. It is a festival of music, art and fashion exhibition for the local people. Many people have talent but have no platform. It has been five years and the festival is stable so I can now go back to recording," he explains.
But Baaba Maal’s journey to the top has not been easy. He debuted with the acoustic guitar-duo effort Djam Leelli (1983) alongside blind guitarist Mansour Seck, and the solo cassette Yewende, the following year.
With the success of Djam Leelli and Cassette, Baaba Maal formed an ensemble Daande Lenol with musicains Mansour Seck and Mbassou Niang. The group charted a new wave of fusion as they mixed traditional African instruments with instruments such as drums, electric guitar and keyboards as showcased in Suka Naayo (1987) and Wango (1988).
This was about to change when Baaba Maal met Peter Gabriel who helped him refine his art. He finally began the major phase of his career with Taara (1990) and especially the acoustic Baayo (1991), which took full advantage of state-of-the-art studio technology while retaining the humble epos of traditional Yela music.
music releases
Lam Toro (1992) incorporated a reggae fusion and was a crossover, hit. Even more baroque arrangements and stylistic crossover which fused salsa, rap, jazz was characterised in Firin’ in Fouta (1994), featuring Jah Wobble on bass, David Bothrill and Michael Brook. This was followed by African Woman, the danceable Sama Duniya, Gorel, and Nomad Soul in 1998.
Maal was approaching a groove-oriented sound reminescent of Eno’s experiments with the Talking Heads, but he finally returned to his acoustic roots with Mi Yeewnii (2001) and intense hymns such as Allah Addu Jam.
