Cheikh Lô - Lamp Fall

(World Circuit/ WCD073)

The music of Cheikh Lô conjures up an imagined city, maybe in West Africa, maybe in the Zouks of North Africa, maybe a Paris suburb, but wherever it is, it's populated with Bahians, US jazz-funksters, the ghost of Fela Kuti, spiritual tourists, the sites and aromas of a Parisian ethnic quarter, and people getting on with the daily urban toil. The radios blare out soukous, jazz, reggae and mbalax and at the centre is Cheikh Lô pulling it all together.

Even by Senegalese standards, he is an outstanding singer, and that's no mean achievement in the land of Youssou N'Dour and Baaba Maal. In the late 1990s he recorded a couple of albums that showed off his versatile, soulful vocals and ability to mix Pan-African styles with anything from Cuban influences to American funk.

The album title track, 'Lamp Fall', is a jangling Afro-Arabic-funk workout driven by legendary saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis. There's more than a passing musical similarity with fellow African Tony Allen's work, in style and cadence. There are fine, soaring vocals on the angry 'Kelle Magni' and an entertaining revival of 1970s Congolese rumba. Then there are influences from Cuba and Jamaica - with bursts of chanting and drumming from Brazil. 'Xale' is penned by the legendary Super Eagles and has a lush, rich retro-funk back beat with a strong formidable vocal.

Reviewer : Yve Ngoo

Xale (clip)