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Baaba Maal

It was almost inevitable that Baaba Maal would one day call an album The Traveller because for the Senegalese veteran travel and music are inextricable. The singer and guitarist belongs to the semi-nomadic Fulani people. He first left his homeland of Fouta, in the river valley region of northern Senegal, almost 40 years ago, to perform music hundreds of miles away as a teenage boy scout and he has been a wanderer ever since. “It’s part of my culture,” he says. “The songs travel from village to village, from country to country. It’s something natural to my tribe and this part of Africa.”

The Traveller, which features the British poet Lemn Sissay and members of The Very Best and Mumford and Sons, is both a new direction and a powerful summary of his life’s work: a rich and moving celebration of seeing new places, meeting new people and making new music together. “When you travel you learn things that would have taken you years to learn in one place,” Baaba says. “You learn about the different corners of life.”

Born into a large family of fishermen in the Fouta town of Podor in 1953, Baaba studied music in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, and Paris, and embarked on a two-year musical pilgrimage around west Africa with his friend Mansour Seck. He then recorded albums with Seck, including the desert blues classic Djam Leelii, and the band Daande Lenol (The Voice of the People). Since the 1980s, he has released several solo albums, toured the world many times, worked with Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack to Black Hawk Down, and collaborated with the likes of Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Tony Allen and U2. Despite his international perspective, he has always acknowledged his roots by singing in Pulaar, the Fulani dialect of the Senegal River valley. Baaba’s work is a modern twist on the West African tradition of the griot: the storytelling troubadour.

Fittingly, The Traveller originated on a train. Baaba met Johan Hugo of The Very Best on a train tour of the UK with Africa Express, the musical melting pot that Baaba had co-founded with Damon Albarn several years earlier. Since his last album, 2009’s Television, Baaba had been thinking about making a more electronic record and Johan Hugo was the perfect collaborator. Baaba promptly appeared on The Very Best’s 2012 album MTMTMK.

The following year, The Very Best Sound System joined the line-up of Gentlemen of the Road, Mumford and Sons’ touring festival, and Johan Hugo asked Baaba to perform with the sound system at one stop. Baaba repaid the favour by inviting Johan, as well as Winston Marshall and Ted Dwayne of Mumford and Sons, to appear at Blues du Fleuve (Blues of the River), his own annual festival in Fouta, in December 2013. He established the festival in 2005 to draw attention to his home turf. “Even the people who live in Dakar sometimes don’t know the country very well,” says Baaba. “It’s to open a window for people to discover where I come from and see all the opportunities in this part of Senegal.”

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In Pictures

Baaba Maal at Joe's Pub in New York City

Read "Baaba Maal at Joe's Pub in New York City" reviewed by Ziga Koritnik


A collection of photos from the Baaba Maal's concert at Joe's Pub in New York City on January 2002 featuring his band. ...

275
Album Review

Baaba Maal: Missing You (Mi Yeewnii)

Read "Missing You (Mi Yeewnii)" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Senegalese singer Baaba Maal has a voice that projects such intensity that it almost doesn't matter what musical setting he chooses, but smaller groups and acoustic instruments do him the most justice. The amazing thing about Missing you (Mi Yeewnii), recorded in the Afro-pop musician's literal backyard, is that it really does sound like a performance at home. It opens with Maal singing characteristically brightly amidst faint cries from children playing in the background (and a rooster crowing a minute ...

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Performance / Tour

Baaba Maal: Speaking Tour

Baaba Maal: Speaking Tour

Source: JamBase

BAABA MAAL BRINGS TALES FROM THE SAHEL TO THE U.S. THIS OCTOBER; SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS ON ISSUES FACING AFRICA AND BEYOND This October, Baaba Maal will be coming to the US to headline a series of speaking dates moderated by renowned music journalist and author Chris Salewicz (The Sunday Times, the Independent, Bob Marley: The Untold Story). Baaba will discuss his personal experiences growing up in Africa and traveling the world, his views on issues facing Africa and the African diaspora, ...

239

Performance / Tour

Baaba Maal from Senegal to Royce Hall

Baaba Maal from Senegal to Royce Hall

Source: Michael Ricci

Musical inspiration can strike Baaba Maal in any place, at any time. It might happen on the Paris Metro, where he sometimes hears echoes of African drum beats in the rumbling of the train cars. Or he could be in his native environs, on the banks of the Senegal River, listening for hidden melodies in the sound of the wind and the rain. “Just silently in my head I sing songs, on the top of rhythm," said the 56-year-old vocalist-guitarist. ...

92

Music Industry

Baaba Maal U.S. Tour

Baaba Maal U.S. Tour

Source: JamBase

BAABA MAAL ANNOUNCES FIRST U.S. TOUR IN FOUR YEARS PERFORMANCE AT THIS YEAR'S BONNAROO FESTIVAL CONFIRMED Acclaimed New Album Television Out Now!

Baaba Maal Legendary Senegalese singer and star of the world stage Baaba Maal will head out on a coast to coast U.S. tour this spring, marking his first stateside dates in four years. The master musician will also make his debut on the Bonnaroo stage this June, bringing his signature blend of electronic dance ...

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Event

20th Tibet House Benefit Show: Patti Smith, Baaba Maal, More

20th Tibet House Benefit Show: Patti Smith, Baaba Maal, More

Source: JamBase

TIBET HOUSE U.S. ANNOUNCES 20th ANNUAL BENEFIT CONCERT AT CARBEGIE HALL

Philip Glass Tibet House U.S. will hold its 20th Annual Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall on Friday, February 26. Philip Glass, the concert's Artistic Director, once again brings together an original lineup of contemporary artists including Patti Smith, Jesse Smith, Michael Campbell, Baaba Maal, and Pierce Turner with more performers being confirmed soon. Tickets will go on sale December 24, 2009.

For twenty years, the annual concert has assembled ...

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Interview

Under Your Skin Interviews: Carla Bley, Jack DeJohnette, Dave McMurray, Mari Boine, Lydia Lunch and Baaba Maal

Under Your Skin Interviews: Carla Bley, Jack DeJohnette, Dave McMurray, Mari Boine, Lydia Lunch and Baaba Maal

Source: Michael Ricci

Under Your Skin is an exploration on the cultural diversity of music and artists from around the globe - from Popular Music to Jazz, Hip Hop, Reggae, Avantgarde, Experimental, Afrobeat, Drum & Bass, Metal, Electronic, DJ-ing/Turntablism, Folk, Classical and more. Carla Bley Jack DeJohnette Dave McMurray Mari Boine Lydia Lunch

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TV / Film

Baaba Maal Television: Teams up with Braz Girls

Baaba Maal Television: Teams up with Braz Girls

Source: JamBase

African Musical Genius Baaba Maal To Release New Album Television

Baaba Maal Senegalese master-musician Baaba Maal will release his new multi-lingual album, Television, on September 15 (Palm Pictures), a groundbreaking successor to 2001's Missing You. Television is a collaboration primarily between Baaba Maal and singer Sabina Sciubba and keyboardist Didi Gutman, both members of New York's Brazilian Girls. The result is a stunningly beautiful and diverse record that meshes two genres, generally unfamiliar to each other, to produce an eclectic ...

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