Alune Wade – African Fast Food (10H10, 2018)
African Fast Food is an album released in 2018 by Senegalese bassist, singer and composer Alune Wade. The album brings together jazz, African rhythms and various world music influences.
On African Fast Food, Alune Wade collaborated with well known American and Cuban musicians, including pianist and keyboardist Leo Genovese (Esperanza Spalding); saxophonist Daniel Blake (Esperanza Spalding, Eric Harland); and acclaimed Cuban percussionist Francisco Mela (McCoy Tyner, Joe Lovano, Kenny Barron).
Alune Wade was born in 1978 in Dakar, Senegal. He grew up exposed to music at an early age. His father was the conductor of a local symphonic orchestra.
At 13, Alune chose the bass. Although his mother objected, wanting her son to continue his academic studies rather than become a professional musician, the support and encouragement from his father inspired Alune to perfect his bass skill.
After years of rigorous music instruction and performing in local bands throughout Dakar, at 17, Alune eventually gained a prominent place as bassist in his father’s orchestra. Just one year later, he auditioned and was selected to perform with celebrated Senegalese musician Ismael Lo, touring as his bassist internationally.
In 2006, Alune Wade released his debut solo album, Mbolo (“unity” in Wolof) where he mixed African rhythms with contemporary jazz influences. He further explored those influences on his 2010 release Ayo Nene.
Alune’s 2015 release, Havana-Paris-Dakar was a bridge between both Alune’s native and chosen homes (Dakar and Paris, respectively), as well as the birthplace of his featured and frequent collaborator, Cuban pianist Harold López-Nussa.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.