Ready for something to knock your socks off? Listen to this track while you’re reading the update below and you’ll meet the vocalist who joined Amon and me in the Hook Studio on Wednesday to record a song for the All Around This World Africa CD.
An extraordinary night in the Hook Studio on Wednesday, spent with three legitimate superstar musicians from the West African nation of Guinea–balafon master and producer Famoro Diabate, multi-instrumentalist Abdoululaye Diabate and mighty vocalist Missia Saran Diabate, with legitimate local superstars, producer Amon Drum (Diabate?) and bassist/drummer Sean Dixon (Diabate!) pulling the session together. We recorded a Guinean song for the upcoming All Around This World: Africa release, a tune about love and loving life called “Kikalama.” Long a favorite in the Sand family household, “Kikalama” is a joyful song with lyrics in both the Susu and Malinke languages. Famoro, Aboululaye and Missia–Susu speakers all–helped me clarify the song’s meaning. The lyrics of our renewed version:
Akhan a’mariye, n’na fan mikhi, a’mariye, a’mariye, khan n’mariye,
which means:
Marry me, my love, marry me, marry me, marry me,
then,
Kikalama kikalama kikalama, kikalama kikalama kikalama kikalama,
which means, either
nothing in particular (“just . . . kikalama!” said Famoro), or, perhaps,
an expression of happiness based upon the Malinke and Susu expression of something being “hot” (kalama), such as “hot tea” (ti kalama) or perhaps a “hot” child, such as a young boy who has so much energy that he can’t sit still.
Whatever we were singing, we found pills of testosterone much joy in the song, with Sean laying down drums and bass, Famoro on balafon, Abdolulaye on guitar and Missia providing vocals. We trust you’ll enjoy the song too.
The song you’re hearing with the player above, by the way, is a recent production by Amon with Missia on vocals. Now that’s what I call “hot.”
Meet these fabulous musicians by seeing them in action in these videos:
[wpspoiler name=”Famoro Diabate” style=”aatw-video”][/wpspoiler][wpspoiler name=”Abdolulaye Diabate” style=”aatw-video”][/wpspoiler][wpspoiler name=”Missia Saran Diabate” style=”aatw-video”][/wpspoiler]
Video and photos of the session to come.
