The Doudou Ndiaye Rose Family: Twenty-One Sabar Rhythms

Honest Jon’s HJRLP 087 (Do LP) - € 32
Valuable compilation of thrilling Senegalese Wolof drumming patterns including traditional & modern rhythms - Highly recommended!
Magnificent Wolof drum music, performed by an extended griot family in the mystical setting of Lac Rose, outside Dakar.
Doudou Ndiaye Rose — who died in 2015 — is a key drummer in the musical history of the world. He developed a system of five hundred original drumming patterns, ancient and new. Amongst the modern rhythms here is Bench Mi — ‘under the Baobab tree,’ a spot where where problems get solved. Also Hibar Yi — ‘passing on information’ — the theme-tune of Senegalese TV national news for decades — and Les Rosettes, the signature rhythm of Senegal’s first ever all-female percussion group, convened by Doudou, and named after his grandmother.
These original compositions sit alongside important traditional rhythms, familiar to every Sabar player, such as Farwu Jar ( a courtship game sometimes resulting in a wedding), Ceebu Jin (also the name of the national dish of fish and rice), and Gumbé, often played after a successful harvest.
Recorded in joyful single takes, over seven consecutive days in February 2020, with no overdubs, mastered by Rashad Becker, the music is deep and thrilling, polyrhythmic to the bone, with a complex, pointillistic intensity at times evoking Jeff Mills in full flight.

Tracklisting:

Niary Ngorong

Gumbè

Kaolack

Fass

Farwu Jar

Ardin Lent

Ardin Rapide

Ceebu Jen

Baar Mbaye

Mbabass

Xibar

Dey Sey

Seut Yi

Toco

Yendulen

Dalalba

Les Rosettes

Ndiouk

Penthie Me

Diakhay Malay

Tagoo