Solomane Doumbia – Ségou to Lagos (2023)
“Ségou to Lagos” is Solomane Doumbia’s tribute to Afrobeat. First and foremost, the album is above all a tribute to an essential artist, Tidiani Koné. Like Solomane, the career and life of the great Tidiani Koné are little known to the public, but it was Tidiani who first built a bridge between the music of Mali and Nigeria and who inspired and arranged the rhythms that made up Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat genre.
Solomane Doumbia started composing and recording the guitar tracks in January 2020 late at night. Later, he composed the rhythms. After that, Solomane invited a cross-generation of cast of Malian musicians, including young players, top vocalists, bass master Sekou Kante and two wind instrumentalists from the Omniversal Earkestra from Berlin.
On “Ségou to Lagos” you will find superb Malian style praise-singing, remarkable guitar and ngoni work and irresistible and flavorful beats. At times, you will also find horns and rhythms that represent the classic Afrobeat sound, intertwining Malian and Nigerian traditions.
Solo is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, dancer, and composer that is part of the golden age of Malian music. For many years, he was Salif Keita’s percussionist and arranger on some of his albums. He has accompanied Salif Keita on all his tours, from his beginning in Abidjan where they met until 2013.
Musicians: Rokia Kouyate, Mahamadou Sidibe on vocals; Nathaniel Dembele on drums; Solomane Doumbia on guitar; Sekou Kante and Mohamed Sayon Nafi on bass; Drissa Bagayoko on percussion; Fabian Engwicht on trumpet; Oliver Fox on saxophone and flute; and Oumar Kouyate on jeli ngoni.
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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.