Since I started reviewing music that falls into the catch all category of World Music, I've heard some of the most amazing combinations of sound. Classical Indian musicians playing North American Jazz on their traditional instruments and a Gypsy brass band playing Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" are only a couple of examples. But I don't think any of them could have prepared me for the music that I heard on the new release from the World Village Music label, Soul Science
Soul Science is the product of a collaboration between British guitarist Justin Adams and traditional Gambian "griot" (musical history keeper/story teller) Juldeh Camara. Justin is best known for being Robert Plant's sideman and his collaborations with the Tuareg band Tinariwen from the South Sahara. Camara is probably unknown outside of his native Gambia, yet has been steeped in his culture's music since he was a child when he served as his blind father's guide as he traveled around in his role as griot. According to legend Juldeh's father, Serif, went out to collect firewood one day and vanished. Six months later he was found by his family playing a golden ritti (a traditional one string fiddle) sitting in a tree. While the family got their son back, he lost his eyesight forever in exchange for the tutelage of the forest spirits in the ways of music.
With that heritage it's no wonder that Camara junior's playing is so extraordinary. While I've heard many other musicians who hail from the griot tradition in Africa, I've never heard one able to do what he does on this recording. There's no way a one stringed instrument should be able to create the diversity of sound that he seems to be able to draw out of his ritti, but somehow or other he makes it the equal of Justin's electric guitar in terms of originality of tone. Bo Diddley meets West African griot music might sound far fetched, but that's only one of the amazing roads these two men travel down.
What gives this recording even extra spice is the fact that they've elected to utilize the services of a multi-instrumentalist percussionist instead of the standard contemporary drummer. Salah Dawson Miller is a perfect fit for these two men, as he not only is a regular on the British Blues scene, but is deeply involved in Algerian music as well. So he was already predisposed to playing with one foot in Africa and one in Britain.
It's not just Blues and Africa that they are drawing upon for their inspiration either. The opening track on the CD, "Yerro Mama," the name of a great African hero, sounds like its roots are as much from a Friday night at the "local" in County Wicklow, as it does either Africa or London's Blues scene. From there it jumps into "Ya Ta Kaaya" ("I Want To Stay Fresh") with the familiar Bo Diddley riff chugging along like a steam engine. The combination of Justin's raw electric guitar and Juldeh's staccato scratches on the ritti makes for as exciting a Rock and Roll sound as I've heard in ages.
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