Mandingo - Watto Sitta (1984)

«Foday Musa Suso is an internationally recognised Kora playing Mandingo griot who was born in 1950 in the Gambian village of Sarre Hamadi, a village in the Wuli District, in the Upper River Region. He is a virtuoso master kora performer and composer from a hereditary lineage of other Jalis. […]

In 1977, Suso flew to Chicago in the US where he began his recording career as well as forming a group, Mandingo Griot Society, with the percussionist Adam Rudolph. […] Since then, he has taught and recorded with many well known jazz artists, including the trumpeter Don Cherry, and Herbie Hancock, with whom he recorded the album Village Life while on their tour of Japan. The group opened new ground in what is known as World Music in numerous other collaborations, such as with Ginger Baker using Suso’s skillful and heavenly playing of the West African lute in a number of pieces.

After the band broke up they Suso re-united with its members Rudolph and Hamid Drake in 1984 to create the album Watto Sitta. The album was produced by Bill Laswell, and was a milestone of modern African music, skillfully and effortlessly merging Suso’s cutting-edge kora playing with an effortless equilibrium of natural and synthesised tunes.» (accessgambia.com)

For more Foday Musa Suso’s projects on Babe(b)logue click here.

Enjoy!

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Ancient Heart: Mandinka and Fulani Music of the Gambia (1990)

«Co-produced by bassist Bill Laswell and Gambian griot Foday Musa Suso, this album delves into the West African roots that inspired their fusionary Mandingo project. Ancient Heart features recordings of both of Gambia's two major ethnic groups, the Mandinka and Fulani. But while the 11 songs are fairly true to tradition, the approach is updated by recording the musicians in ensembles rather than the usual solo setting. All in all, this is an extremely uplifting album that features some truly amazing performances.» (AMG)

«Gambia is the home of numerous ethnic groups, among them the Mandinka and the Fulani. the Mandinka are the westermost branch of the Manding people, descendants of the great Mali empire founded by Sunjata Keita in the 13^th century that include the Bambara, Malinke, Dyula and Soninke among others. The Mandinka are famed for their virtuosity on the kora, a 21-string harp-lute with a large gourd resonator that is featured on this recording. […] For the Mandinka jali (griot) it is the instrument of choice. […] The Fulani are a semi-nomadic people who may be found in most of the countries of west Africa and the Sahel. renowned as fierce warriors and able horsemen, they were early traders with the Arabs. […] By tradition, the Fulani were cattle herders and, perhaps because of their wandering nature, their musical instruments tend to be small and transportable. […]

This recording presents a rich tapestry of Mandinka and fulani music. While the songs are all in the tradition mold […] the assembly of such large ensembles is a fairly recent phenomenon. […] Since the recording was done on location in Mr. Suso’s compound in Birkama, Gambia, there were all manner of extraneous noises to deal with! The resultant sound is truly a triumph of teamwork between musicians and engineers and should appeal to listeners on both sides of the Atlantic for it is both stepped in tradition and thoroughly modern.» (From the Liner Notes, included in the zip).

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Jack DeJohnette & Foday Musa Suso - Music from the Hearts of the Masters (2006)

«When Foday Musa Suso teamed with drummer Hamid Drake in the ‘80s to form the Mandingo Griot Society, the usage of kora and the American drum kit was a novelty, and successfully but precariously placed the traditions of African village music and jazz oriented polyrhythms in a new place. Suso and the veteran drummer Jack DeJohnette team up in duets that do not juxtapose, but complement the rhythmic strengths of the different instruments, creating a language of their own. Suso is happy to play the vibrant shimmering melodies his 21-string instrument uniquely brings to the table, while DeJohnette adopts a sensitive, supportive rather than similarly melodic role, forming funky beats, cymbal accents, and colorations that shade rather than drive the music. There are two traditional pieces: "Kaira" sports a repeat melody buoyed by DeJohnette's slight R&B strut, while "Sunjatta Keita" is a simple 4/4 jam. The delicate, organic, minimalist blending of instruments during "Rose Garden" displays an extension of traditions, while the 6/8 "Mountain Love Dance" evokes the kind of magnificent natural sounds you expect from these two. A loose drum solo and kora separate traded-off identities in "Voice of the Kudrus," there's a boogaloo flavor from DeJohnette for "Ocean Wave," and Suso's kora cascades on the danceable and playful "Worldwide Funk." The sound of the hunter's guitar or douss'n gouni is featured on "Ancient Techno." Though DeJohnette is also known for playing piano, hand drums, or electronics, none of that is present here, nor much of a mainstream jazz content. It is a consistent and playful dialogue between two incredible musicians who need no definitions, restrictions, or guidance to make their spare, soulful, diverse, and heartfelt original music happen.» (AMG)

«Temporaneamente libero dagli impegni col trio di Keith Jarrett, che predilige ora i "solo-concerts", Jack DeJohnette si diverte ad esplorare la musica ad ampio raggio, con la curiosità e la voglia di aprire nuovi scenari che lo possano stimolare. A 64 anni, il grande batterista di Chicago che vive a Woodstock passa da un’avventura all' altra, dal duo con John Surman e orchestra al trio con John Scofield e Larry Goldings. Ed ora al dialogo afro-americano tra l’etno e il jazz con Foday Musa Suso, il virtuoso della kora, che è una specie di arpa tribale della cultura africana. […]

Enciclopedico maestro delle percussioni ma anche buon pianista, Jack DeJohnette non è solo uno dei batteristi più importanti della storia del jazz, ma un vorace esploratore del ritmo e della musica a 360 gradi. La sua libertà di battuta "dentro" e "fuori" del tempo lo rendono unico e adatto a qualsiasi tipo di cultura sonora. L' incontro con Foday Musa Suso, che non è uno di quei menestrelli etnici chiusi e dogmatici, sembrava in qualche modo predestinato.

La storia: dopo il blues, primo amore, Jack scopre il jazz al liceo. Diplomato al conservatorio e all’università, passa dal piano alla batteria emigrando nel 1966 a New York. Tra il 1970 e il ‘72 entra nella band di Miles Davis. E da allora, richiestissimo, collabora con i più grandi. Per fare solo qualche nome: Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, Lester Bowie, John Abercombie e, soprattutto, Keith Jarrett nel supertrio con Gary Peacock al contrabbasso.

Fenomenale solista di kora e discendente dei Griot, i cantastorie africani di antica dignità ancestrale, Foday Musa Suso è universalmente riconosciuto come un fuoriclasse della world music. Nato in Gambia, è cresciuto a stretto contatto con le tradizioni e la cultura della sua terra. Ma da quando nel 1970 si è trasferito a Chicago, non a caso la città natale di DeJohnette, la sua carriera si è aperta alle collaborazioni con gli artisti più diversi come Herbie Hancock, Philip Glass, Pharoah Sanders e Ginger Baker. Nei dieci brani di Music from the hearts of the masters Jack DeJohnette e Foday Musa Suso […] spaziano dal jazz improvvisato alla world con un’attenzione particolare all’evoluzione del ritmo in un crescendo […] spettacolare e coinvolgente.» (Repubblica)

Vedi anche Mandingo Griot Society.

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Mandingo Griot Society feat. Don Cherry - Mandingo Griot Society (1979)

«Foday Musa Suso is a Mandingo (West African tribe) griot (hereditary musician and cultural curator) who can trace his hereditary lineage back to the first performer on the 21-string kora lute. After a traditional apprenticeship in Africa, he came to the US in 1977 and formed The Mandingo Griot Society to bring his native sounds to a new, receptive audience. The group included Adam Rudolph (who recently appeared on Hassan Hakmoun's Gift of the Gnawa CD) and had featured jazz trumpeter Don Cherry as a guest, anticipating world-music fusion many years before the worldbeat era.» (AMG – Click here for a full biography)

«Foday Musa Suso nació en el pueblo Sarre Hamadi, Distrito de Wuli, en la nación africana de Gambia. Es un jali Mandinga de Gambia en Africa Occidental. Un jali es un músico experto hereditario, historiador oral, cantante de alabanzas, compositor y guardián de las tradiciones tribales Mandingas. Desde 1968, Musa Suso ha viajado y actuado por toda Africa, Europa y América del Norte, presentando la música Mandinga a todas las razas y culturas.

Musa Suso se afincó en los Estados Unidos, en donde fundó la Sociedad de los Griots Mandingas en 1977. Allí le enseñó a los músicos de jazz a tocar con arreglos nuevos de la música Mandinga. Su primera grabación contó con el célebre músico de jazz, Don Cherry. La Sociedad se ganó el entusiasmo de miles de seguidores en los Estados Unidos y Europa, y ayudó a crear los cimientos del creciente interés en la música africana. […]» (Músicas del Mundo)

Foday Musa Suso official website

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The Ripple Effect - Hybrids (2005)

«Hybrids is a jazz album in name only – specifically the names of multi instrumentalist John Surman and drummer Jack DeJohnette, who leads this collaborative ensemble.

One of the few musicians to have recorded or performed with Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis, DeJohnette’s jazz credentials are obvious. But Hybrids tosses his cap into the modern electronica realm. With producers Ben Surman (John’s son) and Big Al (the mastermind behind the Sonic Kitchen, one of UK’s biggest and brightest electronic music studios), DeJohnette reinterprets seven of his own pieces in modern electronica. Four come from his recent collaboration with Mandingo griot Foday Musa Suso (Music From the Hearts of the Masters).

Hybrids does feature jazz and world music, but only as raw source materials for Surman to manipulate in the creation of a new electronic music hybrid. “I wanted to extract some of the grooves and melodies that I was drawn to and use them in a different context, retaining the groove and feel but placing it in a different musical setting,” Surman says. “I wanted to move outside of the more traditional acoustic approach and add elements you wouldn’t normally find in jazz.” In this respect, these Hybrids might be more Surman’s than DeJohnette’s.

The opening track, “Ancient Techno,” says a great deal about this set. DeJohnette’s fluid drums bubble up from underneath their accompaniment, constantly changing patterns. […] “Na Na Nai” opens with Surman on either bass clarinet or saxophone, which then washes away in electronic ripples; next, vocals by Marlui Miranda, one of the world’s leading researchers and performers of Brazilian Indian music, are shredded then laid in between the instruments. As Surman ghostwalks from the background into the foreground, the multiple layers (drum, voice, sax/clarinet, and electronic) coalesce to create a very new musical sound. DeJohnette again sets shifting tides of rhythm and sound, like a painter sampling from his palette, to create a new sound for futuristic “Worldwide Funk.” “The Just-Us Department,” the final track (and the only new song), crunches out DeJohnette’s most pronounced drumming on the entire set, pounding thick African drumming hewn in a modern, brittle icy metallic sound. (Allaboutjazz)

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