December 26, 2001
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu

Spectacular Afro-pop singer Baaba Maal performs an acoustic evening at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• An acoustic evening with Baaba Maal
• Senegalese music superstar
• Most recent recording the lauded Missing You (Mi Yeewnii)
• Noted for his artful blend of African traditional and Western pop music
• Unannounced opening set by Ethiopian singer Gigi
• Sunday, February 3
• 7 pm / UCSB Campbell Hall
• General: $28/$25, UCSB students: $19/$16
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

Backed by his band featuring his longtime musical cohort Mansour Seck, Senegalese superstar Baaba Maal will perform an acoustic evening on Sunday, February 3 at 7 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. “If it can be said that any music sounds quintessentially ‘African,’ Baaba Maal’s compositions would be a good candidate,” claims Rhythm Magazine. “It is impossible to listen to [his] songs without imagining oneself in a stunning African landscape, full of arching sky and rich soil, and with the percussive sounds of rhythmic chanting emanating from cities and villages alike.” This intimate acoustic evening will highlight his evocative music and convey the vital energy of Maal’s brand of Afro-pop, which manages to be both traditional and forward looking.

This acoustic show is particularly timely as it follows Maal’s latest release Missing You (Mi Yeewnii). The musician not only returned to his native Senegal to record this CD but also taped many songs entirely outside a studio. The yard of his house in the village of Nbunk made for a more relaxed setting, complete with crickets worked into the mix produced by John Leckie, who has worked with Radiohead, XTC, and others. In an interview Maal has claimed the CD’s title means that he “missed this kind of music where you don’t calculate anything, you just play the music the way you feel it.” Critics agree; Vibe writes in a rave review, “Maal and his band guide the listener on an acoustic journey of pure enchantment, without a single contrived note to break the spell...Maal’s dense weave of pop and tradition is anything but cliché.”

Unlike his fellow countryman Youssou N’Dour, Maal is Fulani, not Wolof (the more predominant people and language in Senegal). Maal is also not from a Griot family (the hereditary caste of artists and communicators), so is somewhat an outsider to the world of music. He studied art, both at art college in Dakar and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. His friendship and musical partnership with blind griot Mansour Seck helped lead to his performing career. The two broke onto the world music scene with their moving acoustic duet recording Djam Leeli, originally released in 1989, and re-released with extra tracks in 1998.

Maal’s range of influences and his own impact continued to grow with each new release. In addition to absorbing all types of Western African traditions, so that his music includes hallmarks of the sound such as tama (talking drum), he also turned to Cuban horn charts and worked into his music the swaying rhythms of Jamaican reggae. His previous two albums, Firin’ in Fouta (1994) and Nomad Soul (1998), presented this true world music amalgam that he brought round the globe in incendiary live shows with his band Daande Lenol. He takes his position as a world ambassador quite seriously, representing the United Nations Development Program and addressing the issue of AIDS/HIV awareness in Africa. This work has led him to take part in both the Red Hot and Gershwin and the upcoming Fela Anikolapu Kuti tribute Red Hot and Riot projects to combat AIDS.

As a special addition to the evening, Ethiopian vocalist Gigi will perform a short set before Baaba Maal takes the stage. Her music derives from celebrations of Genna (Ethiopian Christmas), when men and women used to assemble at her home for two months of feasting, games, and of course, zefen (songs) and chifera (group dancing). Her lyrics are inspired by the land, by scripture, the ancient Ethiopian church, and the beauty of the Ethiopian civilization. Produced by world music mastermind Bill Laswell, Gigi’s self-titled CD mixes ancient Nile rhythms, contemporary jazz virtuosity, pan-African rhythm, dub-reggae studio wizardry and her rich, affectless voice. The syndicated radio program Afropop Worldwide declares, “With a single bold stroke, Gigi stands as the most important new African singer on the scene today.”

On the evening of the performance concertgoers may enhance their experience by attending a savory Senegalese buffet served by the UCSB Faculty Club at 5 p.m. Cost is $18 a person; reservations must be made by January 28 by calling 893-3096.

Arts & Lectures previously presented Baaba Maal and his band Daande Lenol on February 23, 1997. For this concert, Baaba Maal is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by KCBX Public Radio and Borders Books. This residency is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency. Tickets are $28 and $25 for the general public and $19 and $16 for UCSB students.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.