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Member of:

Dande Lenol

Language:

Fula

Genre:

Modern fula Traditional fula Afropop

Instrument:

Male vocals Guitar

Articles:
On Senegalese music (in Danish)
Banning Eyre's review of "Firin'N'Fouta"
Banning Eyre's review of "Missing you"
Interview

On the Internet
Article
Complete discography
Music samples
More music samples

Biography

Baaba Maal comes from the Fouta Toro region in northern Senegal. He belongs to the Fula tribe, a minority in Senegal, Mali and Mauritania, and his music builds on traditional music from these areas. This music is different from the dominant Wolof music in Senegal and is more lyrical and melodious. The singer and guitarist, Baaba Maal, gives his all in everything from traditional arrangements with few instruments, to rock and reggae-influenced versions with full band and modern hi-tech. The same can be said about his lyrics, that spring from traditional myths, via Islam to modern commentaries on social problems in northern Senegal. Baaba Maal does not come from any Griot family, but has studied music at Ecole Des Beuax Arts in Dakar and the Paris Music Conservatory.
After studying in Europe he returned to Senegal at the beginning of the 1980s, when he recorded 6 albums that are found only on cassette. In 1985 he formed his own band, Dande Lenol, and got a recording contract with the Paris based company Syllart, that released the 3 strong discs, “Wango”, “Nouvelle Generation” and “Taara”. In 1991 he signed a new contract with the Island company, Mango.
Baaba Maal belongs, together with others such as Youssou N’Dour to a generation of pioneering musicians who, in the course of the last decade, have placed Senegal emphatically on the music world’s map. They have convincingly moved music on in their homeland and, as they live in Senegal, have contributed to the steering of its music industry and turned Dakar into an important centre for music in Africa.

Relevant artists:
Youssou Ndour
Habib Koité
Cheikh Lô
Mansour Seck

TAARA
Syllart/1990

BAAYO
Mango/1991

"Baayo" is by far Baaba Maal's most incredible work. He is truly in his element in this album, expressing his traditional roots. While some of his other albums venture on pop, Baayo is traditional Senegalese music in the purest sense. His voice will give you chills, and his harmonies with Mansour Seck are spectacular (Reviewer: A music fan from Washington, DC, on www.Africaguide.com)

LAM TORO  
Mango/1992

A varied album with three producers in all, among them Baaba Maal himself. This was recorded in Dakar, with the mix and some additions done in Paris and London. This recipe has produced very good results. There is an exciting blend of traditional and modern instruments. The disc also received the distinction “World Music Album of The Year” when it came out. The primary emphasis is on slow and moody songs - there is not much dance music here. Newly created blends of, for example, saxophone and xylophone in the backing, which consists of Maals competent group, on percussion, for instance “talking drum”. Good lyrics in English and French are enclosed. In short, a solid and timeless disc, thorough in all respects.

FIRIN’ IN FOUTA  
Mango/1994

More punch on a disc that moves quite heavily. The arrangements are more uniform. Several European guest artists, among them Donal Lunny (ex Irish group Planxty), and Jah Wobble, contribute to make “Firin’ In Fouta” sound perhaps more western. But this is just a matter of taste. If you want more punch and life, this will be preferred over “Lam Toro”. There is not a single weak track on the disc!

DJAM LEELII
Mango/1998

NOMAD SOUL  
Palm Pictures/1998

A wider development from "Firin' In Fouta". A yet more international production recorded in Dakar, Kingston, London and New York. You’ll notice that it is sung more in English, and exciting sounds still crop up in the backing. It moves even more smoothly than before. This is still mainly African music of considered composition and soul, but Baaba Maal balances on tight line, leaning heavily towards international pop. Sometimes it just sounds terrible, i.e. the track "Yolela", with Baaba singing duet with Luciano, in English. An outworn popsong. Still, I can't make myself really dislike "Nomad soul". Mostly this album is namely remarkably well done. The song "Koni" for example, is a light, hummable thing, with a simple guitar and kora backing, and "Lam Lam" is produced by Brian Eno. There’s a sleepy trumpet (or is it a synt?) in the foreground with electronic percussion alongside Baaba Maal's desertlike voice. This must be some of the most exciting sound made in African/World music in the last ten years. That the song lasts 12 minutes doesn’t matter; you forget time and disappear out over the African plains.

LIVE AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL  
Palm Pictures/1999

There is often something double about a live disc: should it reproduce the music or the whole atmosphere? If it’s a good live production the two aspects will overlap each other; you don't think about it, you just are there together with the rest of the audience. With this disc I sit feeling that something is missing. The atmosphere from the relatively large Festival Hall doesn’t suit Baaba Maal's music. There is too much of an echo in the hall, and a sort of distant clang is the result. Not that this is technically bad, but the first two tracks of four long songs on the disk, "Mbolo" from "Nomad Soul", and "African Woman" from "Firin' In Fouta", just sound noisy and messy. For the live audience it was hardly a problem; on the contrary, it was certainly a lovely experience. (Click record company and see the pictures.) But the slightly distant, unrestrained beating on the drums doesn’t work well on the disk. It is better on the slow and moody "Koni", where the whole thing feels nearer and has more substance. There’s a lovely cooperation between the band and guitarist Ernest Rangling, from Jamaica. On the whole: Baaba Maal has a really good backing band, and this disk stands out as a solid proof of what he can do on stage. But, as musical food, I prefer his studio recordings so far.

WANGO
Sterns Africa/2000

MISSING YOU/MI YEEWNII  
Palm Pictures/2001

"Missing You/Mi yeewnii" is Baaba Maal's first original CD since "Nomad Soul" in 1998, so this release is met with certain expectations. For those that have been worried that Baaba Maal would now throw himself headlong into "world" commercialism, "Missing You" is a relief. Baaba Maal is right back on home territory with a convincing cycle of songs. "Missing You" is an acoustic album. The 11 songs are fresh but also poetically arranged, and the atmosphere on the disk is light and optimistic. My promo-version lacks lyrics, but it is clear that joy stands at the centre of things. It’s like being at a village party. The instruments are kora, balafon (Lansine Kouyate), guitar (Kante Manfila), bass and talking drum. The expression can seem limited, but the arrangements and rhythms are so beautiful and laid back in relation to each other that it is never boring. On the contrary, "Missing You" wins out the more you listen to it. Toward the end of the disk Maal sings more long and atmospheric sounds that rolls along like a kind of Senegalese samba. Wonderful. "Missing You" is a warm and beautiful collection - a disc of which to be fond. (Click record company for music sample.)

BEST OF THE EARLY YEARS  
Wrasse Records/2003

It's been a while now since we heard anything from Baaba Maal. While we wait for news here comes the enterprising Wrasse Records with a summary of Baaba Maal's earlier releases. This CD moves from the cassette "Jombaayo" of the 1980s (1 track) through to "Firin' Fouta" of 1994. "Best Of The Early Years" gives a fine cross section of Baaba Maal's early releases and developments. As with several of his African colleagues, he has swung between standard renditions of his people's traditions and the modernised, western-influenced deliveries of the same music. Both expressions are featured on "...Early Years". The "Baayo" album is represented by 4 tracks, "Yero Mama", "Boyel", "Baaba" and "Baayo" - and these stand out as the best. Baaba Maal has kept close to the traditional, singing with warmth and sensitivity with guitar, choir and bass in understated arrangements. This is masterfully accomplished and impossible to dislike. In the early 1990s Maal experimented with modern instruments such as the synthesiser and wind sections, as can be heard here on 3 fine tracks from "Wango". The best of his "modern" albums are, in my opinion, "Lam Toro", where the exclusively beautiful "Daande Lenol" is brought forth. A couple of other tracks from the same album are included, but these are not necessarily the best: "Sukanaayo" from the "Jombaayo" cassette is the original of "I Will Follow You" from "Nomad Soul". I consider this song to be something of a curiosity and don't feel it merits a place among the cream of Baaba Maal's work. The problem with compilations is that the context in which the original track appears, are broken up and presented anew. On "Early Years" I feel the atmosphere is sometimes unattractively uneven. But overall this is quite a respectable album. The lyrics from the original pieces are included.

Tracklisting:

1. Yero mama
2. Wango Arti
3. Loodo
4. Daande Lenol
5. Bouyel
6. Baydikacce
7. African woman
8. Hamady boiro
9. Sukanaayo
10. Toro
11. Baaba
12. Baayo
13. Taara

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