UK: SENEGALESE SUPERSTAR BAABA MAAL TEAMS UP WITH JON HASSEL, HOWIE B AND JOHN BEASLEY FOR ONE-OFF CONCERT AT LONDON'S BARBICAN CENTRE

Record ID: 548596

  • Title: UK: SENEGALESE SUPERSTAR BAABA MAAL TEAMS UP WITH JON HASSEL, HOWIE B AND JOHN BEASLEY FOR ONE-OFF CONCERT AT LONDON'S BARBICAN CENTRE
  • Date: 5th April 2002
  • Summary: CLOSE UP OF BAABA MAAL IN CONCERT WIDE OF STAGE BAABA MAAL SINGING IN CONCERT CLOSE UP OF JON HASSELL BAABA MAL SINGING CLOSE UP OF HOWIE B BAABA MAL SINGING
  • Embargoed: 20th April 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA7402FQFK6Z47HX0R6IITPXBQZ
  • Story Text: Back in 1996, Baaba Maal, the Senegalese world music superstar worked with trumpeter Jon Hassell and Scottish DJ-Producer Howie B on his album "Nomad Soul". Only one song from those sessions made it on to that album. Six years later, these disparate musicians, teamed up again, together with keyboardist John Beasley, for a special one-off concert at the Barbican Centre, in London.
    Six years after their first meeting, to record Baaba Maal's "Nomad Soul" album, three disparate talents, Scottish DJ-producer Howie B, trumpeter Jon Hassell and Baaba Maal, the African superstar himself, came together again for a one-off concert at the Barbican in London, to perform specially-created new music, as well tracks never released from the Nomad Soul sessions.
    The result was a compilation of songs hard to categorise - a mixture of jazz, sampled acoustics, electronic textures and keyboards, with Baaba Maal's searing voice, resembling the muezzin's call to prayer in the Islamic world, at the fore.
    "I think fourth world music would sum it up", said Jon Hassell, referring to a term he coined for combining traditional third world music with advanced electronics, influenced by his thirty year study of Indian classical music.
    Howie B's background is equally eclectic, having worked with a range of musicians from U2, Bjork and Tricky to Ry Cooder and Pavarotti, as well as recording several albums of his own skewed beats, ambient waves and heavily-manipulated samples. They were joined for this special one-off concert, by composer, arranger and keyboardist John Beasley who had worked with many artists, including Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard.
    For the diminutive Senegalese singer, the collaboration was inspiring, providing new ideas for the future. "I'm really open to all styles of music", said Baaba Maal. "I like music with fusion where people don't expect what they get. I want to experiment with people who will bring something new for me".
    Over the years, curiosity has led Maal to explore and absorb musical styles from all corners of the globe. He contributed four songs for the soundtrack of new war film "Black Hawk Down", which depicts a vicious 1993 battle between an elite group of U.S. forces and Somalis in the streets of war-torn Mogadishu.
    When not touring or recording, Maal finds time to give something back to the community that he credits as the source of so much of his material. He is a representative of the United Nations Development Programme speaking out on the issue of HIV/Aids in Africa. These words can be heard in musical projects such as "Red Hot and Gershwin" and the imminent Fela Kuti Tribute "Red Hot and Riot", put together by the HIV/Aids awareness campaign group, the Red Hot Organisation.
    Maal, who belongs to the nomadic Hal Pulaar ethnic group of northern Senegal, known in the English speaking world as Fulani grew up steeped in the traditions of his West African region. The Hal Pullaar abide by a caste system, and Maal was not born into a Griot family (the hereditary caste of artists and communicators).
    But Maal, who learned many songs from his mother, grew determined to pursue his dream. As Maal the man defied convention to become a musician, so to has his music.
    His quest to experiment and show the world the flexibility and accessibility of African music has seen Baaba Maal move from his humble beginnings, to become one of Africa's most famous exports. He has learned and travelled and now speaks and sings of empowerment, enlightenment and peace, to and for Africa with authority.
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