Foday Musa Suso: Kora Music From Gambia

I thought I'd share this only because it offers an opportunity to hear Foday Musa Suso in a context other than pop or jazz (if you search the archives you'll find some more of Foday's recorded work available).

Download Kora Music From Gambia

Foday Musa Suso - Watto Sitta

Watto Sitta, credited to Foday Musa Suso's band Mandingo (also known as Mandingo Griot Society), was one of the fruits of his collaboration with Bill Laswell (during the 1980s and 1990s) and brief association with Herbie Hancock during the 1980s. Recorded during the period in which Foday Musa Suso appeared on Herbie Hancock's album Sound System, and collaborated with Hancock on Village Life and Jazz Africa, Watto Sitta has a considerably more popish sound. Some of that no doubt is due to the presence of Bill Laswell as co-producer, and the temptation at the time to add drum machine effects (they detract a bit considering that the crew assembled included plenty of expert drummers and percussionists). That said, it makes for an enjoyable listen, and although out of print currently, inexpensive copies can be found. The last track is my personal favorite. You'll recognize many of the musicians on Watto Sitta from their appearance as performers on Jazz Africa, and both those albums can be played back-to-back quite comfortably. If you enjoy one of those recordings, you'll enjoy the other as well.

Personnel:
Foday Musa Suso - Kora, Dousongoni, Kalimba, Talking Drum, Lead Vocal
Joe Thomas - Bass
Abdul Kakeen - Guitar
Adam Rudolph - Congas, Moroccan Bongos, FraFra Bell, Gnaua Clapper, Shekere, Turtle Shell
Hamid Drake - Drums
Reymond Sillah - Dudungo
Isatou Walker - Backing Vocals
Nora Harris - Backing Vocals
Robin Robinson - Backing Vocals
Manu Washington - Djembe (track 6)
Herbie Hancock - DX7 Synthesizer (tracks 1, 5)

Tracks:
1. Harima
2. Muso
3. Natural Dancer
4. Kansala
5. Dewgal
6. Don't Worry

Produced by Bill Laswell and Foday Musa Suso. DMX programming by Bill Laswell and Foday Musa Suso. All songs written and arranged by Foday Musa Suso.

Released initially in 1984 on Celluloid (catalogue # CELL 6103) as an LP and three years later as a CD. Later reissued on CD by Terrascape.

Download Watto Sitta

Herbie Hancock & Foday Musa Suso: Jazz Africa

Jazz Africa is the live companion piece to Village Life. Recorded in Los Angeles at some point around 1986, the duo is augmented by a number of sidemen - many of whom were heavy hitters in the music world at the time. Here's an AMG review of the album:

Recorded in Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre one December afternoon as part of the Jazzvisions project, this was released four years later almost as an afterthought to the series -- and even many of Hancock's electric music fans weren't aware it was out. A pity, for this is one of the great unheralded Herbie Hancock recordings, a rock-'em, sock-'em, live tour de force that fuses Hancock's electric keyboard work, Foday Musa Suso's kora, incantory vocals, and scraping violin, and a thundering African/Caribbean rhythm section. The CD opens and ends quietly with the delicate, folk-like music introduced on Village Life but the record is dominated by two lengthy, madly swinging workouts for Hancock, Suso and the rhythm section, which is anchored by Santana's ageless Cuban-born percussionist Armando Peraza. Though not all of the concert is included here (the laserdisc and VHS versions contain more music), the CD does convey a good deal of the incredible energy level of the live event, where Hancock looked and played like a man possessed. This was a real breakthrough for Hancock, but alas, this perpetual chameleon has yet to pursue this stimulating direction further.

The music draws on the ideas explored on Village Life, but more danceable, funkier than the original. I've done my best to determine the credits from extremely minimal information. Hopefully it's accurate enough. If you liked Village Life, you'll dig this one was well. Copies of this album now sell for around $125, if you can find 'em.

Personnel:
Herbie Hancock - keyboards
Foday Musa Suso - kora, vocals
Aiyb Dieng - percussion
Armando Peraza - percussion
Adam Rudolph - percussion
Joe Thomas - bass
Hamid Drake - drums, percussion
Abdul Hakeem - guitar

Tracks:
1. Kumbasora
2. Debo
3. Cigarette Lighter
4. Jimbasing

Download Jazz Africa

Herbie Hancock and Foday Musa Suso: Village Life

A personal favorite for a number of years, that I tracked down on ebay (and which will often fetch a premium unless you get lucky, which was what happened in my case).

The info:

Tracks:

1 Moon/Light 7:57
2 Ndan Ndan Nyaria 9:50
3 Early Warning 2:50
4 Kanatente 19:59

Credits:
Herbie Hancock: Yamaha DX-1 Synthesizer, Yamaha RX-11 Digital Drum Machine, Producer
Foday Musa Suso: Kora, Talking Drum, Vocals
Bill Laswell: Producer

Recorded August 7-9, 1984 at CBS/Sony Studios, Shinao-Machi, Tokyo Japan

Released by Columbia Records, 1985

An absolutely gorgeous live-in-studio album with Hancock and Suso jamming together, weaving these tranquil, improvised tunes that defy easy categorization and must have given the marketing wonks fits. Of course, unlike Hancock's previous albums (Future Shock and Sound System), there was no recognizable hit - nothing to inspire break dancing or made-for-MTV videos. Not too surprisingly, it's been out of print for ages. Hancock and Suso had worked together before (on Sound System), and it's cool that the two musicians chose to explore their ideas outside of a pop or fusion context. It's a shame these two didn't pursue this collaboration further.

A more professional view from Allmusic.com:

This quiet, lovely record, in which the Gambian kora virtuoso Foday Musa Suso is given equal billing, was generally ignored when it came out, probably because it fit no one's preconceived idioms -- be they jazz, funk, MTV, or even world music. The only performers are Hancock on a detunable Yamaha DX-1 synthesizer and drum machine and Suso spinning his webs of delicate sound on the zither-like kora, vocalizing a bit and playing a talking drum -- all in real time in a Tokyo studio. The results are absolutely mesmerizing, with Herbie aligning himself perfectly within Suso's unusual, complex rhythmic conceptions and folk-like harmonies. On the 20-minute "Kanatente," Hancock does introduce some of his own advanced harmonic ideas, and he contrasts and interweaves them with Suso's deceptively simple lines in a splendid jam session that eventually ends in a dance that can only be described as Gambian funk. This music generates the same feeling of ecstatic well-being as an Indian raga -- and even hardcore jazz fans may find themselves seduced against their will.

There was a subsequent live album credited to Hancock and Suso (also out of print) that I'll upload a little later.

Download Village Life.