The Doudou N'Diaye Rose Family Twenty-One Sabar Rhythms

• The Doudou N'Diaye Rose Family – Nyarie Gorom
• The Doudou N'Diaye Rose Family – Gumbè
• The Doudou N'Diaye Rose Family – Kaolack
• The Doudou N'Diaye Rose Family – Fass
• The Doudou N'Diaye Rose Family – Farwu Jar
• The Doudou N'Diaye Rose Family – Ardin
• The Doudou N'Diaye Rose Family – Ardin Rapide

• 1. Nyarie Gorom
• 2. Gumbè
• 3. Kaolack
• 4. Fass
• 5. Farwu Jar
• 6. Ardin
• 7. Ardin Rapide
• 8. Ceebu Jen
• 9. Baar Mbaye
• 10. Mbabass
• 11. Hibar Yi
• 12. Dey Sey
• 13. Sutti
• 14. Toco
• 15. Yendulen
• 16. Dalulba
• 17. Les Rosettes
• 18. Nyuk
• 19. Bench Mi
• 20. Jahar Yi
• 21. Taggo

HEAVY AFRO RHYTHMS ON HONEST JONS

Magnificent Wolof drum music, performed by an extended griot family over seven consecutive days, 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, with no overdubs, the music is deep and thrilling, polyrhythmic to the bone, with a complex, pointillistic intensity at times evoking Jeff Mills in full flight.