Album review

Africando

Cuban Salsa Gets An African Flavour

Paris 

02/02/2001 - 

Africa is in the grip of salsa fever and a host of exciting new songs - recorded in everything from Wolof, Mandingue and Bambara to Swahili and Fon - are hitting the international music scene. RFI/Musique decided to find out more about the Pan-African salsa craze and went along to meet Ibrahim Sylla, the producer behind the best-selling 'Africando' compilations. Betece, the fifth 'Africando' album to date, features a mix of infectious Latino rhythms and an impressive list of African guest stars to boot.

RFI: When did you decide to base yourself in France?
Ibrahim Sylla: I originally came to Paris back in 1974 to study management and law. After that I went back to Senegal, set myself up with a couple of partners and went into the production business. But in 1980 I decided it was time to branch out on my own and launched a solo career. Three years later I returned to France and started producing artists over here.
When I started out in the record business, I only produced artists from Senegal, but over the years I opened up to other African countries and started producing music from Cap Verde and the Congo as well as reggae star Alpha Blondy. In 1979 I set up my first solo label. It was called "Jambaar" which means "warriors" in Wolof. Jambaar gradually turned into Syllart Productions and then in 1992 I set up a new label called Africando.

RFI: Do you think that African music has the same potential for development in France as it did a few years back?
I.S.: Well, let's face it, the African music craze has died down a bit now. It really peaked over here in the 80s, but the 90s proved to be a much tougher decade for African artists trying to make their name in France. I was lucky, compared to a lot of other producers, because I'd always kept my market in Africa. We sell really well over there. I've always been a great believer in producing artists from different countries, so rather than just concentrating on Senegal, I went out and discovered new talent in Mali, Congo, Guinea, Cameroon and the Ivory Coast. I've always tried to open up new markets and sold licences and things.
The new Africando compilation has sold really well in Dakar. We've already sold 30,000 cassettes and that's without counting the number of pirate copies in circulation - which basically means you can multiply that figure by five! The singers on Africando come from all over Africa and that explains why the album has caught on in so many different countries. Right now it's selling really well in Mali, Guinea and Benin.
Since 1990/1991 there's been a pretty steep drop in sales outside Africa. Sales have fallen off in France and Japan, which were both markets where African music sold really well in the 80s. But this drop in sales has been more than compensated for by other markets opening up to African music. African music is starting to make a big impact in the UK, Holland, Italy, Germany and the United States. In fact, we managed to sell over 200,000 copies of the second Africando album in the States!

RFI: When you're working on an Africando album, do you prefer to record the artists in a Paris studio or get most of the work done back in Africa?
I. S.: Well, given the huge cost of plane tickets and hotels and the difficulties we've had getting visas for musicians over the past ten years or so, it works out better if we record around 75% of the album in Africa and then fly over to Paris to do the final mix.

RFI: The new Africando album was actually recorded between studios in Africa, Paris and New York, wasn't it?
I. S.: This time round we worked differently to the way we did on the last four Africando albums. What happened was we recorded the vocals in Paris, Dakar and Abidjan, using a simple piano and a mobile studio. Then, once we'd wrapped that up, I flew out to New York with the tapes, wiped off the piano accompaniment and recorded the Latin American musicians live over the top of the vocals.

RFI: It's one thing working with a constantly changing line-up in the studio, but could you actually put together a group to recreate the Africando sound live on stage?
I. S.: Of course. We've put on several Africando concerts in the past and we're planning to organise a concert in Paris with the current line-up. If all goes according to plan, French music fans can come along to Le Zénith on June 8th and they'll find the singers from the album up on stage with a bunch of Latino musicians living in France, plus three or four we'll bring over specially from New York. And then there'll be the guest stars who featured on the album, people like Salif Keita and Koffi Olomidé.

RFI: I noticed a few cover versions on the new album …
I. S.: Out of the 13 tracks on the new album there are four covers: Sey, recorded by Thione Seck, Ntoman covered by Salif Keita and then there's Doni Doni and Mandali. But the rest of the songs on the album are original compositions, written and arranged by Boncana Maïga.

RFI: You brought out the first Africando album, Trovador, in 1993 and since then the Africando story has gone from strength to strength. How did the whole thing get started?
I. S.: Well, I came up with the idea really. I've been a big fan of Cuban music since way back. Salsa was really big in Senegal in the 60s and 70s and everyone would go mad dancing to it. I started building up my own record collection during my student days in France. I had around 6,000 Cuban records, including some real rarities! When I started out in the record business friends asked me why I didn't get involved with producing Afro-Cuban music. And one day I thought, "OK, why not? But if I do, it's got to be played by African musicians." So, anyway, I started talking to Boncana Maïga about my idea – he knows Cuban music really well because he actually lived there for a while. When we got the first project up and running we decided to record in New York and I flew out there with three Senegalese singers: Pap Seck, Nicolas Menheim and Medoune Diallo.

RFI: You've managed to assemble an impressive list of guest stars on the fifth Africando album including Lokua Kanza, Salif Keita, Thione Seck, Bailly Spinto and Koffi Olomidé. Was there anyone else you'd like to have got involved?
I.S.: Yes, I'd really like to have worked with Sam Mangwana. Sam did originally agree to appear on the album, but unfortunately, he let us down at the last minute. Anyway, we've already got the tracks recorded for the next Africando album, which we hope will come out in about two years' time. And we've got some very special guest stars lined up on that, I can tell you. There'll be contributions by everyone from Ismaël Lô and Papa Wemba to Carlos Santana.

Africando Betece Syllart Productions / Musisoft (2001)

Patrick  Labesse

Translation : Julie  Street