E'KABO

Nuru Kane with his guimbri - large Gnawa lute

The United Kingdom is currently being seduced by powerful and hypnotic African music incorporating rock, juju, Senegalese mbalax and Congolese rumba.

Different regional, ethnic and cultural twists have all enhanced and made more popular the music of Africa. Of course French and Portuguese colonialism and subsequently imperialism left more than just scratch marks on the music coming from the continent. In spite of this, every art form, as it develops accumulates its own peculiar style, clichés and allusions, tending to get more wrapped up in itself rather than the world outside. Then some artistic tremor occurs to cleanse the stable, stripping things down to the bare essentials. E K'ABO brings you two African artists who are stripping things by producing innovative tradition-based works ... that explore the infinite possibilities of jingle, rhythm and harmony within and across regional frameworks. They are currently on a tour spanning the United Kingdom, France and The Netherlands, while celebrating the influence of migration on music. They are Senegal's singer/song writer Nuru Kane, and musical maverick Cheikh Lo.

Senegalese musical
maverick Cheikh Lo

Nuru Kane was born 33 years ago in Medina, Dakar - real name Papa Nouroudine Kane. His distinctive take on Senegalese music has not gone unnoticed by music journalists and the buying public in Africa and Europe because it explores the connections between the music of north and west Africa - a musical journey across the Sahara - while also bringing the tradition of Senegalese music into 21st century. His new album SIGIL, is genuinely pure, uncluttered sounds that encapsulate Kane's range of influences, from his blues-led solo songs and Afro-beat (reminiscent of his love of Bob Marley, Fela Kuti and of Ali Farka Toure), through to the driving gnawa trance that forms the backbone of his pulsating live performances.

Kane's live performance at The Spitz witnessed by E K'ABO showed the awesome genius of his African tunes in all their greatness. His BayeFall Gnawa group named after the BayeFall (a west African Islamic brotherhood) is a compelling five-piece band not to be missed. On stage Kane is dressed in flamboyant combatant/traditional over-the-top clothing with an extravagant cotton hat strategically pitched on his dreadlocks and with his guimbri (large gnawa lute) slung round his neck.

It was a performance that not only added visual interest but also seemed to trigger the audience - a bizarre mix of pretentious intellectuals, self proclaimed world music experts and everyone in between - to do what they imagined was the African dance steps. The audience clearly knew many of the songs, from the album Sigil, although only a minority came from the African community. The first song is Kane's perfect aching rendition of Cheikh Antao, a funk-jazz tune that I can't seem to shake off. His voice is wonderful, smooth and soulful and the song's a mixture of high-tempo, slow and steamy movements but very intriguing.

Hotly tipped as the next big African star, I arranged to meet him for a brief interview. He is strikingly handsome - all seven foot of him and obscenely gorgeous. Kane has only spoken English consistently for a year he informs me and his French-African accent slides words together. It is mesmerising.

I put it to him that music critics and promoters include him on a list of World Music's leading artistes who epitomise music's ability to speak to everyone. How is he handling such rave review? Shyly, he said: "I have no pressure, but I am very pleased. I just want to play music," he answers.

Is he on a spiritual mission, with his new songs that are influenced by BayeFall Gnawa?

Kane: "In Africa spiritual and dance songs can be one and the same. I am a follower of BayeFall brotherhood, however I have not set out on a particular religious crusade, BayeFall Gnawa is me."

He says he sings for BayeFall, for religion, for peace, for his family and about the struggles of his continent, torn apart by never-ending guerrilla and communal wars. "Yes, the lyrics of Sigil are a projection of my soul and my life's experiences."

Kane got his break at Mali's Festival in the Desert in 2004. He was asked to perform just five days before the acclaimed event, having been spotted by an organiser at a club in Paris. Success was instant. Several music critics including the BBC World Music described his performance as one of the festival's highlights.

But nowadays, when it comes to making music, there are those who just want to sing, and who naturally have vocal dexterity to hang with it and so create beautiful music that the world just goes crazy for. So, if one were ever looking for that bona fide ambassador of music genre-blending transcending cultures - from Senegal's mbalax, to reggae and jazz, funk, and Congolese rumba, then flamenco, guajiras and the rhythms of Brazil - there isn't really a question as to who is fit to hold the baton as far as African male musicians are concerned other than Cheikh Lo.

From the cosmopolitan Dakar, capital of Senegal, musical maverick Cheikh Lo has created his own distinctive variant of Africa's popular music. He began his career as a percussionist and was a background singer in France in the 1980s, but returned to Dakar to work on his own music. Lo's oeuvre is based on mbalax, the energetic Senegalese music popularised by the international superstar Youssou N'dour. But he adds a touch of Congolese soukous, Cuban son montuno and reggae, Flamenco and jazz. His live performance at his sold out concert at the funky Jazz Café in northwest London, was something to behold. His enthusiastic presence and piercing but sensuous voice soared majestically.

But Lo is much more than just a great singer; he is also a first-rate conductor/percussionist whose instruments include traditional Senegalese drums, guitars, Latin percussion, flute, and brass. He moved between the instruments with amazing ease throughout the show, using the stage to perform rather than just somewhere to stand while singing.

His new album, the first in six years, for World Circuit, 'Lamp Fall' sung in Wolof, except for one song, is a foray into topics closest to him - the often tragic sentimental songs about loss, love and relationships, the dangers of war, the sanctity of childhood, and songs of praise.

An eye-catching figure who spots long dreadlocks, tied back into long plaits that almost reach the ground (Lo is not a Rastafarian), he bounded onto the stage in his trademark glitzy patchwork clothes in yellow, purple and red. His entire show was very theatrical, powerful and impressive.

I met with Cheikh Lo for a brief tête-à-tête about his unique sounds that encompass mbalax, reggae jazz and much else. I asked him if he was still looking for his forte or trying to please all of the people all of the time?

Lo: "My music approach to blending is entirely my idea and it works for me. My sound is very distinct today and stands out because of the mix-and-match. No pressure whatsoever from record companies or commercial pressure. I will even go as far as to advice African musicians to mix-and-match all styles."

Why did it take so long to record his latest album "Lamp Fall? Lo smiled, lit up his cigarette and stared at me for a couple of seconds, aghast that someone dared to confront him about his long awaited album. Then raising his voice slightly he said: "You reporters always want to make a fuss about short or long absences from the public arena. Some of you reporters even go as far as writing our retirement. It takes about three years to put an album together - yes it's taken us six years to put Lamp Fall together because recording sessions were spread across three countries - Senegal, Brazil and UK. And the marketing and promo side of things took some time too. There you have it."

Lo has defined the music he wants to make and how he wants to make it. In his words "I am at the forefront of the contemporary African music scene." This summer he pairs up with Grammy award winner Toumani Diabate, the uncontested master of the Kora (west African harp-lute) at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, for what has been dubbed a unique and unmissable coming together of two of west Africa's great musicians.