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Salsa Xalel

from Routes by Kaira Ba

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Anchored by the kora and vocals of griot kora player and singer Diali Keba Cissokho, Kaira Ba has created a singular cross-cultural statement with their 2018 album Routes. This album builds a bridge across the Atlantic, connecting worlds thousands of miles apart but intimately bound by a shared history. Over the course of two years, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba recorded Routes in North Carolina, USA, and in M’bour, Senegal. The collaboration grew to include 35 musicians, each of whom listened deeply to the others in this musical conversation. Sounds of Senegal intertwine with those of the U.S. South -- sabar and soruba orchestras, tama (talking drum), balafon, and fula flute weave through gospel organ and pedal steel, sax, trumpet, trombone and string quartet – musicians calling back and forth across continents, drawing each other close though an ocean away.
    credits
    released June 29, 2018

    Produced by Jonathan Henderson and Jason Richmond

    Kaira Ba is:
    Diali Keba Cissokho - Kora, Lead vocals
    John Westmoreland - Guitar, Charango
    Jonathan Henderson - Bass, Percussion
    Austin McCall - Drum Kit, Calabash, Percussion
    Will Ridenour - Djembe, Sabar, Dunduns, Congas, Percussion

    Featuring,
    Senegalese Artists:
    Ablaye Daffé - Soruba, Sabar
    Ablaye Cissokho - Soruba, Sabar
    Mamadou Cissokho - Soruba, Sabar, Guitar, Vocals
    Abdou Ndiaye - Soruba, Sabar
    Bayemor Mbaye - Soruba, Sabar
    Yaye Boye - Vocals
    Yande - Backing Vocals
    Ndai Mbaye - Backing Vocals
    Sunkare Kouyate - Balafon
    Baba Galle Kante - Fula Flute
    Ibrahima Sene - Tama

    U.S. Artists:
    Eric Heywood - Pedal Steel Guitar
    Tony Williamson - Mandolin
    Shana Tucker - Vocals
    Tamisha Waden - Vocals
    Alan Thompson - Alto Saxophone
    Jennifer Curtis - 1st Violin, Solo Violin
    Elizabeth Phelps - 2nd Violin
    Suzanne Rousso - Viola
    Paula Peroutka - Cello
    Beverly Botsford - Shekere and Sound Colors
    Chuckey Robinson - Organ
    Lynn Grissett - Trumpet
    Andy Kleindienst - Trombone
    Jim Henderson - Baritone Saxophone
    Sidya Cissokho - Sabar

    Executive Producer, Jonathan Henderson
    Recorded and Mixed by Jason Richmond
    Recorded at Auberge Africa Thiossane (Saly, Senegal) and Fidelitorium Recordings, Sound Pure Studios, and Moeser Auditorium (North Carolina, USA)
    Mastering by Dave McNair

    Cover art by Saba Taj
    Interior design and layout by Cherie Westmoreland
    Liner notes by Diali Cissokho, Will Ridenour, and Jonathan Henderson

    All photographs by Jonathan Henderson except booklet cover by Bruce dePyssler and Assistant Engineer at Fidelitorium Recordings: Andrew McClenney

    All songs written, arranged, and recorded by Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, except “Xarit” by Youssoupha Cissokho, and “Waajur” by Mamadou Cissokho (from “Night in M’bour”)

    © Twelve | Eight Records 2018

    Includes unlimited streaming of Routes via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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about

Xalel means child in Wolof. This song asks what kind of world are we leaving for our children? What are they going to inherit from us? Are they softly singing us a song that we need to listen out for? They will soon be the musicians, the teachers, the presidents of this world. How can we show them the right way to live? As for the music, my father always loved to sing and dance the salsa, and that always influenced me. In Senegal, we blend classic salsa with the most popular national dance music, mbalax, using local percussion instruments, koras, balafons, flutes, and traditional singing styles.

lyrics

Our children are the future / we need to show them the right direction / there will be a day when we are no longer here / their feet will soon be where our feet were / each child is precious / we are not allowed to abandon them

In the distance hear them calling Bamba / children of the coming rising sun / what will be the world they meet tomorrow / if we don’t make the peace before they come? / In the distance hear them singing Bamba / voices of the day that’s yet to be / melodies are made of love and sorrow / let the music wash your spirit free

credits

from Routes, released June 29, 2018
Diali Keba Cissokho - Lead Vocals | John Westmoreland - Electric Guitar, Charango | Jonathan Henderson - Bass | Austin McCall - Drum Kit | Will Ridenour, Sidya Cissokho, Ablaye Daffé, Ablaye Cissokho, Mamadou Cissokho, Abdou Ndiaye, Bayemor Mbaye - Sabar | Sunkare Kouyate - Balafon | Ibrahima Sene - Tama | Tamisha Waden, Shana Tucker - Vocals | Lynn Grissett - Trumpet | Andy Kleindienst - Trombone | John Westmoreland - Horn Arrangement, English Lyrics | Will Ridenour - M’bour Horse Cart Field Recording

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Kaira Ba Pittsboro, North Carolina

Kaira Ba's music is steeped in ancient West African griot traditions, but propelled into the 21st century by the modernizing impulses of a rock band format. Cissokho's electrifying voice conveys timeless themes of mythology, migration, and and justice. Together, Kaira Ba's cross-continental music illuminates stories centuries-old; renewing their relevance in a globalized world. ... more

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