Language:

Wolof

Genre:

Mbalax

Instrument:

Male vocals Guitar Drums

Articles:
Banning Eyre's "Ne La Thiass" review
Banning Eyre's "Bambay Gueej" review

On the Internet
Article
More stuff
Music samples

Biography

Chiekh Lo was born to Senegalese parents in the town of Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso, West Africa. His father ran a jewelry business and the home was always packed with people. Cheikh Lo himself says that this is perhaps the reason why he is so open as a person, something that is reflected in his music.The young Lo developed an interest in music at an early age, playing drums and singing. His father was accepting of this, but his mother disliked it. The other sons in the family had all studied, and his mother was not happy at the thought of Cheikh Lo becoming a musician and playing in all sorts of sleazy clubs. Yet he continued to practice (obviously) and became a member of the Orchestre Volta Jazz, that played Cuban and Congolese hits plus pop versions of traditional songs from Burkina Faso. In 1978 Lo moved to Senegal and performed with several mbalax bands. In 1985 he bought his first guitar and began composing his own songs.
At that time he was working with musicians from the Ivory Coast and France, and they went to Paris to record a disk in 1987. Eventually the band split up but Lo sayed on for two years and worked as a studio musician. He came in contact with, among others, Papa Wemba. In 1990 he recorded his first cassette in Dakar. The music caught on and this marked the beginning of his career.
A year later he made another cassette but didn’t release it because he was displeased with the sound quality. But Cheikh Lo's music began to take shape: a gentle form of mbalax that uses impulses from reggae and soukous. The opportunity to record an album came in 1995 when Youssou N'Dour expressed a willingness to produce what was the debut album, "Ne La Thiass". Cheikh Lo's first performance in Europe was as the warm-up band for Youssou N'Dour.
Cheikh Lo is a Muslim and member of the Baye Fall brotherhood, a part of the larger brotherhood Mouride. The founder of Mouride, Cheikh Amadou Bamba, had
as his maxim: "Pray to God as if you should die tomorrow, work as if you would never die." The Mourides are now responsible for up to 80% of business life of Senegal. Members of the Baye Fall brotherhood sport rasta hair, and Cheikh Lo is often perceived as a Rastafarian, something he is not. The Muslim Baye Fall tradition predates Rasta tradition in Jamaica.

Relevant artists:
Youssou Ndour
Habib Koité
Ali Farka Touré
Tama

NÈ LA THIASS  
World Circuit/1996

This disk won the European Music Journalists’ prize for Best World Music Album in 1996. It's a glittering debut with a substantial and down to earth rolling mbalax from the drummer and guitarist, Lo. This is chiefly acoustic music with electric guitar solos and careful use of saxophone and occasional keyboards among its colours. "Ne Le Thiass" is brilliantly produced by Youssou N'Dour with variety, and smooth construction. What's with this? Cheikh Lo sings right into my soul. This is warm, sincere, drifting and optimistic. This music makes me happy!

BAMBAY GUEEJ  
World Circuit/1999

It's rare to find an album that causes the world to stop the clocks. In Cuba, "Buena Vista Social Club" stands out as such an album, as do Bob Marley's "Exodus" in Jamaica, The Sex Pistols' "Never Mind The Bollocks" in England, and The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" in the USA.
"Bambay Gueej" is such a disk. Senegal has hitherto hardly heard such a masterpiece. We should have seen it coming. In the three years since his debut album, Cheikh Lo has become a prominent voice in Senegalese music. But at the same time he’s always shown the will to continue with the mbalax form that is now in full bloom.Yes, so astonished am I that I must say it again: this is such a wonder of a disk, in a class of its own, that I have difficulty finding the right words. But, OK, I will try: the music rolls out of the loudspeaker and continues to roll - through the room, down through the floor, up through the walls - and refuses to stop. It rolls further and wider, new tones follow the ones before, they fill the room until at last the room is crammed with sound - so crammed that it is impossible to find a silent place or escape from it. Cheikh Lo is everywhere.Yes, I know that it sounds absurd and says not one word about the music, so here is the fact file:
Cheikh Lo has released an album with the Senegalese mbalax rhythmic form as its
starting point (in his time, Youssou N'Dour's own path to world renown). The album
gives the nod to neighbouring Mali (a duet with Oumou Sangare), to Nigerian funk from the 1970s, old Cuban rhythms from 1960s Africa, and to a list of other musical
inspirations from his own upbringing, among which are reggae and old James Brown (he has, among others, Pee Wee Ellis's brass section, famous from Brown's "Cold Sweat"). This is all produced by Youssou N'Dour and Nick Gold, the enthusiasts behind the World Circuit company that also gave us "Buena Vista Social Club". The sound is of course perfect for the project, with understated percussion feeding brass sequences and that other feature: Cheikh Lo's voice. It swings from the careful and ingratiating via the playfully easy and clear to the intense and urgent. He sings right into one's soul and yet does not leave the rest of the music in the shadows. The rhythmic, eternal African music on which all the rest depend on - and which have made all other rhythmic music possible - it gambols, swings (sic!) and sends the undersigned back to the beginning. It flows out of the loudspeakers, rolls along the floor, flows out of the window, down the pavement, along the street, heads into the town centre, soaks the town, spreads across the country, and covers the world.
Cheikh Lo is here, World. Are you listening?

Arne Berg

INEDITS  
Sonodisc/Musisoft/1999

This is no "new" album from Cheikh Lo, but a CD release comprised of the two cassettes he recorded in Dakar in 1990 and 1991, namely "Doxamdem" and "Dief Dieul". The former is a theme album about Senegalese immigrants in France that earned him the distinction of "Best New Artist" in 1990, and led to a contract with Youssou N'Dour. These recordings represent the beginning of his career as a star, and it's praiseworthy of Sonodisc to have made the material
available. The sound on this album is quite different from the other two acoustic-based CDs. This sounds more synthetic, and the synthesizer does dominate the overall sound picture. I am in no doubt that I prefer the more substantial, acoustic recordings on World Circuit, but this isn't bad, either! Such a marked talent as Cheikh Lo's shines through, no matter what, and the warm voice glows just as strongly here. Several of the tracks, for example "Doxamdem" and "Africa Dem", are also to be found on "Ne La Thiass" and "Bambey Gueej", and it's nice to compare, but this is mainly a question of personal taste and preference. On "Inedits" one also gets several swinging reggae tracks with additional rolling mbalax. Maybe it's true to say that Cheikh Lo spreads out a little on this disk. He sounds a bit unfinished, compared to the later, GREAT Cheikh Lo. These recordings are his ‘final exams’. But still-!

LAMP FALL  
World Circuit/2005

The World Circuit label take their time with their albums. Cheikh Lo is one of their most successful new artists with two brilliant albums, still the Circuit team has the integrety to wait 6 years to issue Lô's third original, international album. Impressing; and of course the disk is worth waiting for. Here are most of the elements that have made Cheikh Lô such a tremendous success: His rolling mbalx drums, his cool reggea influence, his passionate singing and this time also added: A taste of Brazil.
The albums opens with "Sou", sung in Bambara, umistakeably Cheikh Lô style, with a teasing guitar riff as a starter, then the loping rhythm, with some Bahian accordeon in the backing. A convincing start. The second track, the title song, "Light of Fall" is a quite funky thing, with Pee Wee Ellis's tenor sax following him. The song is a praise of Cheikh Ibra Fall, Cheikh Lô is his devoted follower. "Xalé" continues in the same style, also with Ellis' horns, and even if the sound is warm and engaging, I sometimes feel like asking if more funk is what the world needs? Then Lô strikes with a new upbeat song "Kelle Magni", creatively arranged with some hypnotic tama drumming. "Senegal-Bresil" is a carnival drumming piece recorded in Bahia.
So far, so good. But it is not until "Sante Yalla" this really grabs me. "Sante-" is a beautiful psalm like song in praise of Allah, in a superb mix of Cuban and West African rhythms. The song in fact reminds me of the opening track of the "Buena Vista" album, but even more intense with a totally heart gripping guitar solo from Lamine Faye. The Latin influence is again heard in "Tougayu m'bedd", something in between Cuban and reggea.
The next song is Lô's soukous version; Congo influence allright, but still Cheikh Lô. It is moving your feet as well.
It continues in this fashion, it's moving, passionate and engaging, the lyrics deal with topics like poverty and war in Africa and the world. And of course Cheikh Lô's strong faith in his Mouride Islamic community. These praise songs are among the best on this record.
I can't see many weaknesses on this album. Cheikh Lô has created his own very special style, sounding like few other artists. But what really shines trough, is his engagement. This is a top disk. I still feel, however, that his debut album has a kind of direct feeling to it that very few other albums can match. "Lamp fall" is pretty close to that achivement.

Startpage    Artists, search    Articles and interviews    Links   

Design: Idar Lind
English: Katherine Stewart-Kreisman
Swahili: Francis Chagula (francis.chagula@malvik.kommune.no)
Swahili: Habiba Rajabu (habiba@online.no)
Flags: 3Dflags.com

This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here.