ASSIKO GOLDEN BAND DE GRAND YOFF - Magg Tekki - LP - Vinyl [NOV 10]

LP - Black Vinyl.  

Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff is the sprawling drum collective tearing up Dakar’s nightlife scene. Senegalese poet Djiby Ly (Wau Wau Collectif) is backed by fourteen different percussive instruments plus horns, winds, balafon, and the occasional accordion, combining Count Ossie’s spiritually elevated polyrhythms with Fela Kuti’s orchestra and Tony Allen’s groove.

Based in the impoverished neighborhood of Grand Yoff and operating as a mutual aid group for the larger community, the band builds its songs on ancient rhythms passed on from Senegal, Cameroon, and the infamous Gorée Island. In both Wolof and French, Djiby preaches a message of uplift and cooperation rooted in the Sufi teachings of the Mouride Brotherhood, as well as Christianity and animist religions. “Senegal, my life my joy” is the call and response chanted over cascading, infinitely layered drum patterns on opener “La Musique Du Cœur.” “We build our own country” the band proclaims in Wolof on “Xarritt.”

For twenty years and across three generations of band members, Assiko have played raucous all-night jams at weddings, secret parties, and political rallies. Grainy cellphone footage of their live shows has spread online. But this is their first album, the result of a collaboration with Swedish musician and archivist Karl-Jonas Winqvist (Sing A Song Fighter), who met the band in Dakar in 2018 and facilitated recording sessions and overdubs via Whatsapp (no small feat with so many musicians). This is vital, exciting, and innovative music, alive with energy and purpose, a band rooted in a very specific community but speaking to the world.

Tracklist: 

Side A
1. La Musique Du Cœur
2. Bègue Bègue
3. Sama Néné
4. Kora Interlude
5. Magg Tekki

Side B
1. Baye Ndongo
2. Xarritt
3. Mix Louange
4. Kora Interlude II
5. Borom Darou

Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff:
Aziz Gning : vocals, percussion
Oscar Gomes - vocals
Dieugue Diop : thioung percussion, coeur
Henry Coly : bouga perciussion
Vincent Mendy : vocals, contre percussion, coeur
Babacar Nging : contre percussion, coeur
Seydou Dia : vocals, basse percussion, coeur
François Bass : basse percussion, coeur
Abdoulahad Faye : thiathia percussion, coeur
Joacheme Mendy : djiémé percussion, coeur
Djiby Ly - flute, poem, vocals
Ndongo Faye - percussion
Ibrahima Camarra - balafon
Alladı N'diaye - vocals
Laye Mangane - percussion
Bapis Faye - percussion, coeur
Japha - percussion

Plus:
Lina Langendorf: saxophone
Amanda Fritzén - accordion
Abdou Cissokho - kora
Lamine Cissokho - kora
Karl Jonas Winqvist - bells and rattles