Cheikh Lo

Friday I went to see one of the only two Senegalese musicians I had heard of before coming to Senegal, Cheikh Lo (the other being the ubiquitous Youssou Ndour). Cheikh Lo makes a much more toned down mbalax—i.e. more true to its roots in son and other Afro-Cuban rhythms of the 1950s and 60s—and adds some samba and flamenco for flavor. In other words, the man is an artist. He is a member of the Baye Fall a subset of the biggest Muslim brotherhood here, that (and I will explain it all when I understand it better) I can only describe as Muslim rastas. They wear locks and really colorful boubous, ignore all the fundamental rules of Islam—they don’t fast for Ramadan, don’t pray five times a day and drink lots of alcohol—and devote their lives to the marabouts—the magical/mystical/saintly clerical aristocrats that run the brotherhoods. They are supposed to work their marabouts’ field for free and you often see them begging for money and food at gas stations. Many of Cheikh’s songs are about being Baye Fall and his latest album is named after the founder of the order “Lamp Fall.” Point being I was excited to see the dude. I was disappointed, however. The music was good but for a mystic (Cheikh himself is rail-thin, wore a simple blue tunic, some typical “Muslim” amulets with inscriptions of the Koran and pictures of famous marabouts, and fewer than a dozen locks that ran down to his knees) he has some serious ego issues. Originally a percussionist he now focuses on the guitar and insisted on doing most of the solos, not letting any of the members of the band get any shine. The problem is that he approaches the guitar like a drummer would, and his percussive style gets jarring quickly. Still he has a beautiful voice, soft and inspiring—unlike the whiny, nasal falsetto people here seem to prefer in their male vocalists—so he’s definitely worth checking out.