Frederic Galliano and the African Divas
"Africa is very important to me," says Frederic Galliano. "It is a part of my life. I love the girls, the food, the atmosphere, the humility. What I like in Africa is the idea of history without beginning and without end . . . Its like when John Coltrane layers sounds with a shuffle its music without beginning, without end. I love this idea. And I love it when you lose part of the repetition, when nothing is fixed, when its very free, very interesting."
Categorizations dont really matter in Frederic Gallianos world: "The name of my music is a journalists problem, not mine," he once cheekily declared to the UKs Melody Maker. And neither does it interest him to tackle musical territory thats already been conquered. Though heavily influenced by smooth cats like Miles Davis and John Coltrane, the Nigerian rhythmic antics of the late Fela Kuti and the machine soul of Can and Kraftwerk, Galliano refuses to tread along well-worn jazz or Afro-beat paths just as he is unconcerned with the latest in trendy electronic dance tunes. However, his influence on an emerging afro-tech scene is clear.
33-year-old Galliano born, raised and still residing in the small town of Valence in the south of France has nurtured a strong affection for music his whole life and an interest in Afro-Cuban sounds in particular since he was teenager. Though he planned a life as a sculptor (studying at the Beaux Arts de Valence), he accidentally fell into DJing, and ultimately music production.
Frederic Galliano and the African Divas is the result of four years of travels throughout West Africa, wherein Galliano met and recorded with over 50 singers and musicians from areas such as Sénégal, Niger, the Ivory Coast and Mali. Its his most ambitious project to date recorded for the noted French electronic music label F Communications (brought to stateside audiences via PIAS America), which has introduced the world to label co-founder and techno producer Laurent Garnier, as well as the forward-thinking jazz of St. Germain (now signed to the legendary Blue Note label). Galliano has been with F Communications since 1996, releasing numerous singles, EPs and two full-length albums (1997s Espaces Baroques and 1998s Live Infinis).
Galliano also runs his own four-year-old record label, the internationally regarded Frikyiwa, also formed in 1998 to explore different directions in African music. Among the labels critically acclaimed projects was a collection of contemporary European electronic artists remixing the vaults of the back catalog of Mali label Cobalt. So the African Divas release simultaneously marks an important summit in the evolution of Frikyiwas efforts to bring fresh new sounds from Africa.
The African Divas are:
Aissata Baldé (Sénégal), Sira Cissoko (Sénégal), Ramatta Allassane Danté (Niger), Naffi Diédhou (Sénégal), Nahawa Doumbia (Mali), Ramatta Doussia (Mali), Cissé Diamba Kanouté (Sénégal), Hadja Kouyaté (Guinée-Conakry), Astou NDiaye (Sénégal), KokoOuadjah (Côte dIvoire), Fatou Sène (Sénégal)
"Africa is very important to me," says Frederic Galliano. "It is a part of my life. I love the girls, the food, the atmosphere, the humility. What I like in Africa is the idea of history without beginning and without end . . . Its like when John Coltrane layers sounds with a shuffle its music without beginning, without end. I love this idea. And I love it when you lose part of the repetition, when nothing is fixed, when its very free, very interesting."
Categorizations dont really matter in Frederic Gallianos world: "The name of my music is a journalists problem, not mine," he once cheekily declared to the UKs Melody Maker. And neither does it interest him to tackle musical territory thats already been conquered. Though heavily influenced by smooth cats like Miles Davis and John Coltrane, the Nigerian rhythmic antics of the late Fela Kuti and the machine soul of Can and Kraftwerk, Galliano refuses to tread along well-worn jazz or Afro-beat paths just as he is unconcerned with the latest in trendy electronic dance tunes. However, his influence on an emerging afro-tech scene is clear.
33-year-old Galliano born, raised and still residing in the small town of Valence in the south of France has nurtured a strong affection for music his whole life and an interest in Afro-Cuban sounds in particular since he was teenager. Though he planned a life as a sculptor (studying at the Beaux Arts de Valence), he accidentally fell into DJing, and ultimately music production.
Frederic Galliano and the African Divas is the result of four years of travels throughout West Africa, wherein Galliano met and recorded with over 50 singers and musicians from areas such as Sénégal, Niger, the Ivory Coast and Mali. Its his most ambitious project to date recorded for the noted French electronic music label F Communications (brought to stateside audiences via PIAS America), which has introduced the world to label co-founder and techno producer Laurent Garnier, as well as the forward-thinking jazz of St. Germain (now signed to the legendary Blue Note label). Galliano has been with F Communications since 1996, releasing numerous singles, EPs and two full-length albums (1997s Espaces Baroques and 1998s Live Infinis).
Galliano also runs his own four-year-old record label, the internationally regarded Frikyiwa, also formed in 1998 to explore different directions in African music. Among the labels critically acclaimed projects was a collection of contemporary European electronic artists remixing the vaults of the back catalog of Mali label Cobalt. So the African Divas release simultaneously marks an important summit in the evolution of Frikyiwas efforts to bring fresh new sounds from Africa.
The African Divas are:
Aissata Baldé (Sénégal), Sira Cissoko (Sénégal), Ramatta Allassane Danté (Niger), Naffi Diédhou (Sénégal), Nahawa Doumbia (Mali), Ramatta Doussia (Mali), Cissé Diamba Kanouté (Sénégal), Hadja Kouyaté (Guinée-Conakry), Astou NDiaye (Sénégal), KokoOuadjah (Côte dIvoire), Fatou Sène (Sénégal)
