Balbalou
Cheikh Lô
Keywords
Reviews (4)
musicOMH
d. 21. Sep. 2014
By
By
Daniel Paton
d. 21. Sep. 2014
"Fofoulah's exhilarating blurring of the boundaries between West African polyrhythmic music, jazz, rock, dub and funk grooves has turned many a jazz club into a party space since their formation in 2011 ... Whilst the band is mostly drawn from London's improvising scene (most specifically members of the Loop Collective), they draw both on their own studies in West African music (...) and on the experience and insight of sabar drummer Kaw Secka. Few could doubt this project's authenticity given the extent to which the band members live and breathe this music".
The guardian
d. 18. Sep. 2014
By
By
Robin Denselow
d. 18. Sep. 2014
"Dave Smith is a remarkable young drummer, as those who have heard him playing with JuJu, or with Robert Plant's Sensational Space Shifters will know ... This is an album dominated by percussion (...) but it displays surprising variety. He is joined by a band that includes Sabar and Tama talking-drums exponent Kaw Secka for a set that features chanting African vocals from Batch Gueye and JuJu's Juldeh Camara; an impressive, drifting contribution from the Algerian singer Iness Mezel; and moody, thoughtful rap from Ghostpoet. Fofoulah often concentrate on rhythm not melody, but this is a bravely adventurous new fusion band".
Folk radio UK
d. 18. Sep. 2014
By
By
Helen Gregory
d. 18. Sep. 2014
"The complex yet fluid polyrhythms of Senegalese/Gambian Wolof sabar drumming remain the heart and soul of Fofoulah, but this is not to downplay the wealth of other styles at the disposal of this immensely talented band. Dub basslines, spacey synths, jazz-tinged horns and nervy guitars mesh seamlessly with the west African rhythms over which a choice selection of singers (Batch Gueye, Ghostpoet, Kaw Secka, Iness Mezel, Juldeh Camara) add a variety of melodic and rhythmic contributions throughout ... A record which sounds quite unlike anything else around at the moment. It is centred in the present but never forgets its roots, in the process creating an infectiously joyous, playful and intelligent sound, trancey yet danceable, for me it's one of this year's most enthralling listens".
Mojo
2015 January
By
By
David Hutcheon
2015 January
"[The quintet's] foundations are dub and jazz, but these are beefed up with electronics, pan-African rock and, most persuasively, the sabar and tama drums of West Africa - so there's no drifting off, even at the most stoner of grooves ... The vibe switches from Ethiopia to Algeria to Senegal to Bristol in a heartbeat".