Strings That Sing

This is Baobab-Gateway's debut album, featuring a unique combination of traditional West African, Ugandan and modern instruments. Tanzanian-born Dougie Hudson leads the trio, playing the guitar and bolon (a gourd harp), with Stuart Dinwoodie playing the kamelengoni (hunter's lute) and Andy Cooke playing the ennanga, endingidi and endongo thumb pianos. They are joined by Rise Kagona on guitar, Cynthia Gentle on backing vocals, Soriba Skanouté on kora (harp-lute) and Chris Grieves on trombone. The album explores the contemporary ways in which these traditional instruments can be played.

While all three of the trio are better known for being drummers, they have resisted including percussion in their album; Hudson and his fellow Scotland-based musicians have certainly mastered those harps and fiddles from East and West Africa. English lyrics are heard, which results in a truly original sound when used alongside the trombone and African instruments.

At first it takes some getting used to. With a lively rhythm, ‘Pullin’ Me’ is a track that opens the album nicely. It sets the pace for what is to follow, with the lively yet gentle energy continuing into the next track, ‘Salaya’. The guitar is much more prominent in ‘Jewel Light, giving it a real West African flavour, whilst the ngoni is given a track all to itself, albeit one lasting only 25 seconds. The instruments work very well together throughout the album, intertwining to create rich, rhythmical melodic textures.