Today I went for a bike ride, from Harlem, where my brother lives, to Amsterdam. I was planning to sell a few pieces of an old car (a door, a wheel, some mirrors and a couple of car fresheners) and afterwards I would attend an illegal cock-fight which was supposed to happen in an obscure basement near the train station, right on Spuisstrat.
As I was carrying a small wagon, riding my bike and sweating, all of a sudden it started to rain cats and dogs, so I could literary see how small pieces of cats were hitting me in the arms, were hitting the stuff from my wagon, so it became quite difficult to drive safe forward. For some good moments, my view was stolen by this extraordinary phenomenon and only later on I decided to seek for a shelter. I saw a huge bridge 50 meters in front of me, so I drove till I got under the bridge, safe from the rain, but literally all wet.
I waited under the bridge for half an hour, while I was listening to this great album by the Guelewar band. The music was with me every moment. My ears were living an orgasmic euphoria and my mind was unbelievably hooked by the power, the beauty, the psychedelic energy that was living inside the music. This introspective moment sent me back, right in ‘82, in Zambia, where this group first recorded this album. It is not the first one from Guelewar, but one of their best.
Compressed in six songs, ''Sama Yaye Demna N'Darr'' is a pretty rare album; the record goes on discogs from 70 euro upward. In each of the songs you can feel an incredibly unique sound, mixing traditional compositions with modern instruments such as the Mini-Moog. Their last recording is a live from the Canari Club de Kaolack, in Senegal, back in 1982, with 12 members under the belt of Gambian musician Laaye N'Gom’s Guelewar Band of Banjul.
This album heals any damage flying through my brain, caused by some crap music that I, through my existence, had to bear, during my long promenades on filthy cabs and several models of small and medium cars. This is how I got the car pieces, but that’s another story. Though, I still got the wheel, so please contact me if you feel like changing yours with a brand used one.
What more can I say about this gem of the gambian music than Laaye N'Gom, the band leader and keyboardist of the most psychedelic band of wolof area : " The whole matter is a dedication to the struggle of human equality every way. Dance to the music if you'd ever have the opportunity to listening to it."
Tracklist:
1. Yaye Boul Ma Bayi2. Sama Yaye Demna N'Darr
3. Sanu Maakaan
4. Président Diawara
5. Bamba Bô Jang
6. Njarama