Raphaël Pannier – Live In Saint Louis, Senegal (Miel Music, 2025)
French drummer-composer Raphaël Pannier released Live In Saint Louis, Senegal on November 7, 2025 via Miguel Zenón’s Miel Music. The album documents a May 19, 2024, concert at the Saint-Louis International Jazz Festival and pairs Pannier’s quartet with an eight-piece sabar drum ensemble led by Senegalese master drummer Khadim Niang. Festival organizers note this is the first live recording in the event’s 33-year history.
The lineup features Pannier with Cuban saxophonist Yosvany Terry, pianist Thomas Enhco, and bassist François Moutin. Niang’s group includes Mouhamed Niang, Cheikh Ndiaye Baba, Abdou Salam Sy, Bathie Gueye, Fallou Gueye, and Niang’s sons Papa Madiodio Niang and Yoro Niang.
The project grew from Pannier’s long-standing interest in sabar, inspired at age three by the music of the late Doudou N’Diaye Rose, named a “living human treasure” by UNESCO in 2006. Pannier traveled to Senegal in May 2023, met Niang, who performed with N’Diaye Rose from 1997 to 1999, and set up a seven-day residency where jazz and sabar musicians developed new material together.
The set list mixes original collaborations and reimagined standards. “Xalat Bou Set” (“The Holy Spirit”) and “Sine Saloum” sit alongside Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman,” John Coltrane’s “Naima,” and Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five.” A performance video for “Take Five” serves as the first single. Niang contributes “Hommage à Doudou N’Diaye Rose,” with sections that prompted spontaneous interplay from Pannier and Moutin during the concert.
Dominique Borde mixed the album at Éric Serra’s personal studio, reuniting part of the team behind N’Diaye Rose’s 1991 release Djabote.
Pannier’s path to the project includes studies at Berklee and the Manhattan School of Music, work in New York from 2014 to 2020. He also collabotrated with artists such as Miguel Zenón, Aaron Goldberg, Bob James, Steve Wilson, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Manuel Valera, Biréli Lagrène, Baptiste Trotignon, and Thomas Enhco. His previous releases include Faune and Letter To A Friend.
Author: Tyler Bennet
