Various Artists - African Pearls: Senegal 70 - Musical Effervescence
2008

Orchestra Baoab * Etoile de Dakar (with Youssou N'Dour) * Star Band de Dakar * Star Number One * Xalam * Guelawar * Super Dianomo de Dakar * Watto Siita * N'Guewel * Ifang Bondi * Ouza * Etoile 2000 * Diarama de St Louis

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Although listeners may know Etoile De Dakar, many of the amazing 1970s-era musicians on this two-disc compilation (another excellent entry in the long-running African Pearls series) will be new. In this case, better late than never, as the lively, melodic tracks here reveal one gem after another, including Watto Siita's haunting vocals, the lilting, reggae-ish confections of Senegal Jambar, and Guelawar's super-bad funk.
- from CD liner notes.

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Amazing work from the Senegalese scene of the 70s – easily one of the hippest musical hotspots on the African continent at the time, as you'll hear by the wonderful tracks on this set! Senegalese groups really embrace a wide range of sounds – not just traditional elements, or occasional influences from American blues and soul, but also a good dose of Latin and Cuban music too – all wrapped together in uniquely different ways by each of the different artists in this set. There's a bit more diversity to the music here than on other regional collections, and that's what makes this one so great – a truly wonderful entry in the well-named African Pearls series, supported with full notes in English and French. Titles include "Hombre Misteriosoy" by Etoile De Dakar, "Senegambia" by Star Band De Dakar, "Xarit" by Orchestra Baobab, "Guethe" by Star Band De Dakar, "Faran Tamba" by Star Number One, "Daida" by Xalam, "Rele Te Contan" by Guelawar, "Nijaay" by Orchestra Baobob, "Maaduleen" by Super Diamono De Dakar, "Boubou Ngary" by Etoile 2000, "Xal Dey Mag" by Ifang Bondi, "Xadim" by N'Guewel, and "Kery Goro" by Star Number One
- Dusty Groove America

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It's time for that little game I love to play called reviewing a CD I don't have. It's out in Europe as a two-disc set from Sterns at 15 quid for 26 songs, and this time you can download individual songs for 79 pence (which is currently a bit more than a Yankee greenback). The sound samples on amazon.uk were a bit raunchy so I presume they have not come from an original source, but like the MP3s and some discs I have, were burned from used vinyl. It's a spectrum of 70s Senegalese bands, and the next question is would you rather listen to a whole Baobab or Etoile de Dakar album or do you want them chopped up and rearranged like appetizers on a shiny aluminium platter? I suppose the point is, if there was enough good unreleased material by either Baobab or Etoile de Dakar then a separate disc would be warranted, but this is really just the leftovers.

Star Number One kicks things off with "Faran Tamba"; they also serve us "Senegal Jambar," "Suma Dom ji," "Mory," and "Kery Goro." Their cohorts Star Band de Dakar offer "Guethe," "Gossando," & "Senegambia"; and then there's the star offspring Etoile de Dakar who deliver "Tolou Badou Ndiaye," "Footane" & "Hombre Misterioso" -- and before we forget them there's Etoile 2000 with the classic "Boubou Ngary." From Baobab (who also sprang from the Star Band) we get "Nijaay," "Sey," "Xarit," "Kelen Ati," "Juana," and "El Carretero" which ends the second disc. That's 18 cuts, the remaining eight are each one-shots from bands like Ouza et ses Ouzettes, Guelwar de Banjul, Ifang Bondi, Xalam -- and some you probably haven't heard of before.

"Faran tamba" comes from a very obscure Number One de Dakar album titled "78," presumably because it was recorded in that year. Fortunately for us it was collected on Dakar Sound vol 6, titled NUMBER 1 DE NUMBER ONE. "Senegal Jambaar" was on their MAAM BAMBA LP which kicks off with the great "Waalo," and again, it was collected on NUMBER III DE NUMBER ONE which Günter Gretz issued from Popular African Music in 2004. "Sumadomji" was on the LP Volume 5: YORO-KERY GORO which Eddy'Son released in Paris in 1980. It has not been anthologized yet. It's loping and laid back and worth every copper of the 79 pence. "Mory" & "Kery Goro" come from that same album and both of them can be found on Ted Jasper's Dakar Sound volume 7: NO 2 DE NO 1: another Senegalese essential in your library.

Star Band was the outfit of Pape Seck and later Laye Thiam. They are similar to Baobab in their Latin leaning. I have several of their discs that have outstanding music: Volume 3 included Laba Sosseh doing his Cuban thing, but also covering a couple of Congolese hits by Bella Bella and Jean-Serge Essous. The great Mar Seck was also a vocalist, alongside Doudou Sow. "Guesthe" [sic] by Idi Diop was on Star Band vol 11, it was also on a cassette credited to Number One de Dakar. It's so hard to keeps these bands straight. "Gossando," a Cuban cover by Mar Seck, was on their volume 2, while "Sene-Gambia" was on their volume 1 "LE MIAMI," named for the club where they started out. The only other available tracks by them would appear to be "Noguini, Noguini" and "Cheri Coco" which kick off Dakar Sound volume 5 and give you a sense of their awe-inspiring might. The Etoile de Dakar track "Tolou Badou Ndiaye," was the first cut on their first self-produced album. Badou Ndiaye is their guitarist and young Youssou Ndour the vocalist. "Footaane" was on the classic THIAPATHIOLY and "Hombre Mysterioso soy" was on XALIS. These tracks were gathered into the Sterns 4-CD set of Etoile de Dakar, another must-have. The Etoile 2000 song "Boubou Ngary" leads off the first Dakar Sound album with a bang. Crucial.

The six cuts from Baobab are varied: "Nijay" is from a very obscure album SENEGAAL SUNUGAAL (Disques Buur BRLP003 1975); "Sey" was on GUY GU REY GI (Disques Buur BRLP002 1975), as were "Xarit" and "El Carretero"; "Xarit" was also on VISAGE DU SENEGAL, along with "Kelen ati len" (Disques Buur BRLP004 1975). "Juana" was a 12-inch single, so it's fair to say this is pretty rare Baobab material. "Kelen ati leen" and "Sey" were recently picked up on the NIGHT AT CLUB BAOBAB disc so you surely have them, and "Nijay" was rerecorded for the MADE IN DAKAR album, so unless you want it with too much echo and a muffled sound, you can skip it. Completists will want the three other Baobab tracks however. The Disques Buur sides have been cherry-picked but no doubt the day will come when someone has the bright idea of presenting it all together, just as the various Miles Davis or John Coltrane sessions have been reassembled.

"Manduleen" by Super Diamono is the outstanding track on their GEEDY DAYAAN album, I still have a post-it on the sleeve to tell me which track to play on the air. (It's a good album marred by bad synth.) Omar Pene is the vocalist. Some of the other stray tracks on this new compilation were included in a series of discs that Sylla put out in 1993 called SENEGAL FLASH. This is a really fine collection (well, four of them anyway) but now out of print. "Relen te conten" by Guelewar and "Xalel dey mag" by Ifang Bondi, laid-back rockers, neither exceptional, come from the series. "Senegal 80" by Ouza was on an essential album: LAT-DIOR, a collection of their hits assembled by Popular African Music (pam oa 208) which features that great rarity in African music: fine acoustic piano. Ouza's groove is mostly mellow though sometimes there is a jerky synthesizer in the mix to spoil thing. The SENEGAL FLASH series contains a total of ten tracks by Ouza, perhaps worth issuing on their own as another Ouzettes album.

I presume regular readers have a grasp on Senegalese music and a few albums on the shelf. If you only have Baobab and Youssou Ndour then you owe it to yourself to get more: such as Cheick Lo, Baaba Maal, and a couple of comps like the excellent Dakar Sound duo THEIR THING and LATIN THING. The purpose of my little guide is to help you navigate this album and avoid paying a huge amount of money when you can download one album's worth for half the price. Happy hunting. 
-- http://www.muzikifan.com/senegal.html

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Track List
Disc 1
01 - Star Number One - Faran Tamba
02 - Xalam - Daida
03 - Super Diamono De Dakar - Maaduleen
04 - Orchestra Baobab - Nijaay
05 - Star Band de Dakar - Guethe
06 - Star Number One - Senegal Jambar
07 - Guelawar - Relen Te Contan
08 - Watto Siita - Jambar
09 - Star Number One - Suma Dom Ji
10 - Etoile de Dakar - Tolou Badou Ndiaye
11 - Star Band de Dakar - Gossando
12 - Orchestra Baobab - Sey
13 - Etoile de Dakar - Footane

Disc 2
01 - Orchestra Baobab - Xarit
02 - Star Band de Dakar - Senegambia
03 - Star Number One - Mory
04 - N'Guewel - Xadim
05 - Orchestra Baobab - Kelen Ati
06 - Ifang Bondi - Xalel Dey Mag
07 - Ouza - Senegal 80
08 - Orchestra Baobab - Juana
09 - Etoile de Dakar - Hombre Misteriosoy
10 - Etoile 2000 - Boubou Ngary
11 - Diarama de St Louis - Xaste Waroul
12 - Star Number One - Kery Goro
13 - Orchestra Baobab - El Carretero

Artwork, EAC log and CUE sheet included.
Audio format: FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) 
http://flac.sourceforge.net/index.html

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