On a month-long trip through Senegal and Gambia in 2014, Italo/French DJ/producer, Numa Crew member, and founder of the Voodoo Rebel record label Leonard P heard music everywhere, not just in the ceremonies and concerts, but also in casual moments of everyday life. Equipped with a mobile device and a panoramic mic, he set out to document whatever he could and, as a result, was able to return home to Europe with hours upon hours of field recordings.
A one-man Smithsonian Folkways for the modern age, Leonard next went about converting his field recordings to a soundbank of samples that he might share with fellow electronic musicians far and wide. And share he did. The soundbank made its way across Italy, winding up in hard drives belonging to the likes of Populous, Capibara, and Ckrono & Slesh. It trekked to neighboring France, where it was opened up by Lumumba. Across the Channel, Piezo and Nobel plundered its wares. Even Staten Island’s Dj Reaganomics (best DJ name ever?) got some. And with a foundation in both Afrobeat and analogue electronics, Amsterdam group Umeme Afrorave had the name and the sound to tie it all together.
You’re a stranger in a strange land, a European traveler on the Dark Continent, but instead of coming to the party quipping, “Dr. Livingston, I presume,” you’re exploring the possibilities of playing native instruments like the Kora, Jambe or Bolon with modern synths and 808 drums, and suddenly digging up the atavistic traits of footwork, Jersey club, and whatever other regional dance genre du jour, cultural relativism be damned. You’re streaming Senegambia Rebel below. You can buy it tomorrow.