The album KASSA available on 23 November 2009
Adama Yalomba's Afro Pop.
Adama was born in 1970
in Bamako, Mali. As a young boy his father teach him to play dan, a traditional Malian instrument with 6 strings. Then he
plays across Mali during 10 years with his band, as western African
traditional musicians.
In 2003,
the western audience discovers an amazing record that will
reach directly the best seller positions in American charts for world
music. What must be said is that FESTIVAL AU DESERT 2003
compounded
all the greatest and famous names of Malian Music, showed in all its
diversity (Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen, Oumou Sangare, Tartit, Afel
Bocoum…), with some additional notorious guests as Robert Plant (the
Led Zeppelin mythical singer).
In the middle of this album, a young artist imposes himself
thanks to his voice and his hallucinating string play. Adama Yalomba
placed then its first paving stone on the way that will drive him to
international recognition.
Afro pop!
His brand new album KASSA,
the first one distributed outside Africa,
has been recorded in Bogolan Studio in Bamako (the most famous studio
in western Africa where the missed Ali Farka Touré, Dee Dee
Bridgewater, Björk as well as for instance Tinariwen have chosen for
their latest album). People familiar with African music industry know
how difficult it is for native artists to get European or American
sound production quality standards. Hence, KASSA is the album
that
finally does justice to Adama Yalomba talent.
All his travels around the world have opened his ears and his
mind as one can notice along the 12 album titles. From indisputable
hits («Bara», «Kassa», «Djalamale»…) to more introspective singles (the
wonderful «Kadidja», «Nougoudjougou», «Odel»…), Adama plays with
languages (Bambara, Boso, Linguala, French) and with instruments to
give birth to deep, intimate and strong songs.
There was afro beat, afro jazz, Adama Yalomba invents now groovy afro
pop, halfway to his millenary roots and his elsewhere’s
desires.
Act together!
Act together seems to be Adama’s slogan, always seeking for any
encounter that could enrich his art. So, it is possible to listen to
his strings (vocal, dan, n’goni, guitar) with his fellow citizens
(Salif Keita, Ali Farka Touré, Habib Koïté, Oumou Sangaré, Guerebou
Kounkan, Rokia Traoré …) as well as on Mali lover's artists (hip-hop
globetrotter
Kwal, the fiddled pop of Toma Sidibé, the deep dub of Manjul …)
Then, it was obvious to find a bunch of guests on his brand
new album : Cheikh Tidiane Seck (playing also
with the jazzman Archie Shepp or rapper Rockin’ Squat of Assassin),
Keziah Jones (passing
by Bamako as Adama was recording, he put some of his slender
guitar notes after he had listened first album draft!), Nicolas Repac
(Arthur H guitarist whose
passion for Africa is well known thanks to his work with Mamani Keita),
Kwal and Manjul are all part of this international casting.
Although those talented guests bring their touch, Adama
Yalomba is still the real boss of this album thanks to his charisma and
an open-mindedness that drive a consistent equilibrium between
traditional music and undisputable modernity.
Adama Yalomba demonstrates in the most beautiful way with his creation
that “the African man” has well and truly entered the History….
Adama Yalomba, voit le jour au milieu des années 70 au Nord de Bamako au Mali.
C'est aux cotés de son père, un virtuose du dan, qu'Adama apprend à
jouer les premières notes de cet instrument traditionnel à six cordes et
six manches.
Il parcourt pendant près de dix ans le Mali profond avec
son groupe dans la tradition des conteurs et des griots des épopées
d’Afrique de l’Ouest.
En 2003, un disque atteint les sommets des charts de world
music. FESTIVAL
AU DESERT 2003 réunit les grands noms de la
musique malienne (Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen, Oumou Sangare, Tartit,
Afel Bocoum …) ainsi que des invités prestigieux comme Robert Plant ou
Manu Chao.
Sur ce disque on découvre un artiste talentueux qui
éblouit par sa voix et son jeu, Adama Yalomba vient de poser le
premier jalon sur le chemin qui va le mener à la reconnaissance
international.
Afro pop!
Après 2 albums, son nouvel opus, KASSA, est le premier distribué
hors d'Afrique. Il est enregistré au Studio Bogolan à Bamako (ce studio
mythique d'Afrique de l'Ouest a notamment enregistré des artistes tels
que le regretté Ali Farka Touré, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Björk, Tinariwen,
Rokia Traoré, Damon Albarn et la liste est longue …).
La production à Bogolan permet à Adama de trouver le "son" de qualité
qui valorise ses talents d'instrumentiste et de chanteur, puis l'album
s’enrichit alors à Paris de la collaboration du producteur–batteur
Stéphane
Bonvent (Sinclair, Cunnie Williams, Francis Lalanne, Malia, Téri Moïse,
Koxie…)
qui révèle la couleur métissée Afro pop des tubes incontournables
«Baara», «Kassa», «Collaborer», «Djamakoyo» … comme des morceaux plus
introspectifs : les superbes «Kadidja», «Nugudjugu», «Odel» …
Il y a l'Afro beat, l'Afro jazz, Adama Yalomba invente l'Afro pop,
à mi-chemin entre ses racines millénaires et les différentes influences
de ses multiples voyages musicaux.
Collaborer!
Cela pourrait être le slogan d'Adama, toujours à la recherche de
rencontres enrichissantes. Ainsi, il joue avec ses
compatriotes : Salif Keita, Ali Farka Touré, Rokia Troré, Habib
Koïté, Oumou
Sangaré, Nampé Sadio …
Et il n'est pas étonnant de trouver des artistes renommés invités sur l'album KASSA : Cheikh Tidiane Seck, Keziah Jones (de passage à Bamako pendant l'enregistrement de l'album, il désire poser quelques notes de guitare avec
Adama!), Nicolas Repac
(le guitariste d'Arthur H, dont la passion pour l'Afrique n'est plus à
démontrer après son travail avec Mamani Keita), Manjul …
Adama Yalomba demeure pourtant le seul «maitre a bord» de son album,
grace a son charisme et son ouverture d'esprit il trouve toujours le
juste équilibre entre musique traditionnelle et une indiscutable
modernité.
