World music

Live session with Cheikh Ibra Fam and Symo Reyn, from Senegal to Jordan

Sheikh Ibra Fam (Soulbeats) and Symo Reyn.

© Soulbeats

By: Laurence Aloir

6 mins

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Our first guest is a

artist  :

, for the release of his 1st international album

 (Daydream Music/Soulbeats).

With

, his first international album, the Senegalese singer and multi-instrumentalist

 enriches African music with new nuances.

After four years in the service of the mythical

, a fiftieth anniversary monument of Senegalese music, and three albums with a local vocation under the name of Freestyle which allowed him to make himself known to his compatriots, the process of maturation was coming to its logical end.

It was when he was preparing to live away from Senegal and his native continent, at the end of 2019, that the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place, in the light of his experience and his personal reflection on the music.          

His first solo album, an Afro-pop project called

, is the fruit of this musical catalysis.

To give substance to this project, he first wanted to "

".

In Gambia, a neighboring country and brother of Senegal, he joined his uncle Coly Cissé, "

" ​​who accompanied many international singers.

The collaboration turned out to be productive: in one week, the foundations for six tracks were laid, including

which recounts this stay marked by the meeting with the famous griot

, nicknamed "

" in the English-speaking world.

Sheikh Ibra Family.

© Ibrahima Khalioulah

As a child, he was rocked by the records that his mother played in the family home in Dakar: those of the Orquesta Aragón of Cuba or the Dominican Johnny Pacheco, star of Latin music very popular in West Africa.

When he discovers the American Otis Redding, at ten years old, the shock with soul music is such that the boy listens to nothing else.

Later, like those of his generation, he also connects to American, French and Senegalese rap, but deliberately prefers not to dwell on this or that artist, for fear of being too influenced.

"

, he justifies, while acknowledging that "

".

Among those who came to contribute to

, there is in particular

, one of the figures of Senegalese music with whom Cheikh Ibra Fam shares the fact of belonging to the Baye Fall community.

Franco-Cape Verdean reggaewoman

also came to share the microphone, while Mamy Kanouté was in charge of the backing vocals, she who has accompanied Baaba Maal for a long time.

The "dads" of the Orchestra Baobab occupy a very special place on this guest list: Thierno Koite, the saxophonist who knew how to think of his young compatriot when a place in the group was vacant, and of course Balla Sidibé, founding member of the Baobab of which he was one of the singers.

With them, during international tours passing through the biggest stages, Cheikh Ibra Fam acquired a confidence that he did not have before.

A rigor and a discipline too, thanks to the discreet blows of sticks that

 hit him live for a false note or a microphone touched with his hand!

The Future is the veteran singer's last recording, three days before his death.

His lyrics evoke life and death.

"

", considers Cheikh Ibra Fam, custodian of this musical testament which is worth recognition of its legitimacy.

A final lesson, before finally taking flight.

Cheikh Ibra Fam, Yao Dembele and Igor Nikitinsky at RFI.

© Laurence Aloir/RFI

Titles performed at RFI

-

Live RFI

-

Feat.

Cheikh Lô, from the album

-

, Live RFI

-

Live RFI

Musicians

- Sheikh Ibra Fam, lead vocals

- Yao Dembele

bass  

- Igor Nikitinsky

, keyboards. 

Sound

 : 

Our second guest is

.

Symo Reyn.

© Johan A. Ostalrich

The composer and qanoûn player (born in Jordan) has lived and worked in Paris since 2007. Inspired by Western musicians who fascinate him, he developed techniques very early on to reinvent his instrument.

Playing since the age of five, he participated very early in several international meetings in Jordan and the Middle East.

Arrived in France and attracted by the cinema, he then worked on composition with

the British Library in London, Bozar Brussels, Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, Villa Medici, etc.

Driven by a desire for universality, he seeks to bring new dimensions to the qanoûn.

By drawing inspiration from the techniques of other instruments, he renews the playing and sound of this centuries-old zither, long associated with a traditional genre.

This approach takes shape in his solo album

, where the instrument is used electro-acoustically.

Symo Reyn's music carries several identities, it plays on contrasts by drawing inspiration from fields as different as the world of science fiction, jazz, psychedelia and modern music...

Symo Reyn at RFI.

© Laurence Aloir/RFI

Titles performed at RFI

-

, Live RFI

-

extract from the EP

-

Live RFI.

Musician

Symo Reyn, qanoun.

Sound: Mathias Taylor, Benoît Letirant.

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