Track Listing
Click tracks with speaker icon to listen| 1 | Sounsoumba | 4:21 |
| 2 | Sukunyali | 6:02 |
| 3 | Kounadya | 4:33 |
| 4 | Donso | 6:09 |
| 5 | Wele Wele Wintou | 5:19 |
| 6 | Senkele Te Sira | 4:33 |
| 7 | Djigui | 4:38 |
| 8 | Seya | 4:13 |
| 9 | Iyo Djeli | 6:01 |
| 10 | Mogo Kele | 5:40 |
| 11 | Koroko | 4:29 |
News & Reviews
- Thursday, January 7, 2010
Oumou Sangare, Audra McDonald Nominated for NAACP Image Awards; McDonald to Sing at National Championship Football Game
Oumou Sangare and Audra McDonald have been nominated for NAACP Image Awards: Oumou for her latest album, Seya, and Audra for her work on the ABC series Private Practice. Audra will be performing on ABC tonight, singing "God Bless America" during the pregame show at the National Championship football game in Pasadena's Rose Bowl Stadium.
- Monday, December 21, 2009
NY Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, MTV: Nonesuch Albums Among the Year's Best
Two New York Times music critics have Nonesuch albums on their Top Ten lists: Rokia Traoré's Tchamantché and Oumou Sangare's Seya. The Washington Post has Alarm Will Sound's a/rhythmia in its Top Ten classical albums; the Denver Post has Richard Goode and John Adams. Two Boston Globe critics have Wilco (the album) on their lists, while others there add BlakRoc and Seya. MTV includes Wilco plus Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali. PopMatters and American Songwriter cite Wilco as well, while the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle lists Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi.
About this Album
Singer and songwriter Oumou Sangare is a genuine superstar in her native Mali, and a charismatic performer who has thrilled audiences around the world with her exhilarating live performances. Her 1990 debut disc Moussolou ("Women")—released on CD by Nonesuch in 1999—was a sensation in her homeland, as inspiring to many as it was controversial to some. In the lyrics to her songs, Sangare takes up the causes of her fellow Malian women, frankly exploring their problems and unabashedly articulating their desires; the outspokenness of her words are a liberating as her music, which combines traditional instrumentation and rhythms with a sophisticated, funk-driven, contemporary groove.
Seya, which means “joy,” is Sangare’s first international release in six years; to call it long awaited, in the US as well as in Mail, would be an understatement. (Along with making records, the hard-working Sangare, who has supported her mother and siblings as a singer since the age of 13, has opened a hotel in the Malian capital of Bamako, imported her own line of cars, served as a Global Ambassador for the U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization, and become a mother herself.) The 11-song disc has already met with great acclaim in the UK, where the album debuted in February. Seya, said London’s Observer “combines modernity and tradition with seamless verve ... Even without the translations, her universal concerns—joy, hope, love—are plain.” Her vocals, the Daily Telegraph noted, exude “ancestral passion and a thoroughly modern, urban poise.”
The singer co-produced the album with multi-instrumentalist Cheick Tidiane Seck, and wrote all but one song, the traditional number “Donso.” Sangare is backed by a large, all-star ensemble of Malian and international musicians, including longtime accompanist "Benogo" Brehima Diakité, master of the six-string kamele ngoni (“young person’s harp”); two James Brown veterans, saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis and trombonist Fred Wesley; and Fela Kuti’s legendary musical director, Nigerian drummer Tony Allen. Sangare's lyrics remain forthright, and her delivery has become even more uplifting. The Evening Standard praised “the dynamic rhythms, sinewy instrumental lines and empowering vocals.”
Credits
MUSICIANS
Oumou Sangare, lead vocals, percussion
"Benogo" Brehima Diakité, kamele n'goni (3, 5-11), donso n'goni (4)
Kassim Sidibé, kamele n'goni (4, 5, 7, 10), backing vocals (4)
"Bastos" Mahamane Touré, guitar (1-3, 5, 7-9, 11)
Djelimady Tounkara, guitar (5, 6, 11)
Tony Remy, guitar (4, 5)
Harvé Samb, guitar (3)
Cheick Tidiane Seck, guitar (2), Hammond organ (3, 4), cabasah percussion (2), calabash (8), karignan (1, 6), maracas (10), shaker (1)
Neba Solo, balafon (1, 7, 10)
Souleymane Ouattara, balafon (1, 9)
Malik Mezzadri, flute (1, 8)
Dramane Koulibaly, flute (4, 7)
"Adez" Amadou Traoré, flute (9)
Ahmed Fofana, Peul flute (7)
Anthony Leung, violins (9)
Bassekou Kouyaté, Andara Koyaté, n'goni (2)
Binefou Keita, n'goni ba, talking drum, backing vocals (2)
Zoumana Tereta, soku (traditional violin) (3, 7)
The Kick Horns, horn section (9)
Harouna Barry, saxophones (5)
Pee Wee Ellis, saxophone (8)
Fred Wesley, trombone (8)
Sekou Ba, bass (1, 6, 7, 11)
Guy N'Sangue, bass (3, 7, 8)
Sekou Kante, bass (5)
Dougouyé Coulibaly, bolon (4-7), flute (4)
Habib Sangare, bolon (2, 8, 9)
Will Calhoun, drums (1, 8), oudu drum (2)
Michael Notebaert, drums (3, 5)
Tony Allen, drums (11)
Winston Clifford, drums (4)
Joe Price, drums (9)
Adama Diarra, djembe (2, 3, 5-7, 9), yabara (3)
Sekou Diabaté, djembe (1)
Prince, percussion (1), calabash (2, 5, 9, 11), talking drum (2)
Alpha "Hammer" Sankare, calabash (3, 5-7, 10, 11)
Souleymane Sidibé, karignan (4, 5, 7-9, 11), backing vocals (4)
Miguel Fernández, congas (3)
Drissa Diabaté, talking drum (11)
Massambou Wele Diallo, maracas (10)
Lamine Tounkara, dundunba (7)
Thiam Mohammed, Mahamadou Tounkara, sabar (11)
Pamela Badiago, backing vocals (3, 5, 7, 10, 11)
Dandio Sidibé, backing vocals (1, 2, 6, 8-10)
Paye Camara, backing vocals (1, 2, 6, 8, 9)
Maraima Tounkara, backing vocals (3, 5, 7)
Baou Tounkara, backing vocals (10, 11)
PRODUCTION CREDITS
A World Circuit Production
Produced by Nick Gold, Oumou Sangare, and Cheick Tidiane Seck
Recorded at Bogolan Studios, Bamako
Recording Engineer: Eliézer Oudba
Assistant Engineer: Ibrahim Coulibaly
Additional recording by Jerry Boys at Studios Davout, Paris, and Livinston Studios, London
Assistant Engineer: Fernando Pereira
Track 4 recorded by Yves Wernert at Bogolan Studios
Mixed by Jerry Boys and Sonny at Livingston Studios
Mastered by Tom Leader and Jerry Boys
Track 4 arranged by Oumou Sangare; tracks 2, 6, 9 arranged by Oumou Sangare and Cheick Tidiane Seck; track 1, 3, 7, 8, 11 arranged by Cheick Tidiane Seck; trackd 5, 10 arranged by Massambou Wele Diallo
Artwork by House@Intro
Cover Photograph by Ed Alcock
