Locked

An old man once said to me, a society is identified by the kind of music it plays and the lyrics contained in those songs captures or summarises the mood of society, her people including her madness.

My childhood buddy put to me without hesistating that I have gone AWOL, and as a matter of fact, I have not updated or posted anything since 11th May, I need not tell him what I had done all these days. Music was actually keeping me busy all this while, criss crossing Banjul, Serrekunda and Kololi and tracking local musicians.

In one case, I veered off to a recording studio where I met Jalex, one of the country's rising and hottest revivalists - Young as he is, his mastery of the language is beyond discription But NOt like the kora maestro Jaliba Kuyateh who is the undisputed King of the kora.

Jalex:
I'm refering to a musician who has actually pierced through the homes of many Gambians, with the sound of afro manding, reminding anyone who knows, the cultural setting of the things Gambians are so passionate about. The Jamba Ndong for example is the dance of boys who are doing through the local initiation, Koyang as in my Fula tongue.

So Jalex made the most of the interview at Xalam studios, in some cases [playing] the drums and talking about that beautiful girl in that song, who? no one knows about that nameless girl so important to have a melodious song like Sunkutu Nyimma.

Next is Singhateh, he stole the limelight some years back, actually less than ten years ago when he dropped a video calling on two rival high schools to not only mend fences but to forget about the past and work together to develop the country. Those Schools are: Gambia High School and St. Augustines High, now he has grown through leaps and bounds trying to discover himself and his musical identity - SINGHATEH.

I also met music lovers - reggae fans and those who have been following the rise and fall, and the rise and rise of Gambian music.