Review Text
PLEASE NOTE: All Profits from albums sales are given to charity Mind Fry Enterprises is proud to announce the latest release Baobob: The Headwhiz Consort Moderne Internationale Plays Cole, Wade and McGrail. It covers a wide array of mainstream avant garde and progressive music with a tip of the hat to jazz, classical, folk world music and of course rock.. A truly diverse collection of musicians playing a truly diverse collection of compositions. Led by the inimitable Babakar Wade of Senegal, it comprises a group hailing from 9 countries while having absorbed the influences of many more than that! The pieces were composed by Babakar Wade, Consort guitarist Barney Cole and John McGrail. Stylistically it runs the gamut from the orchestral McGrail composition "Burying The Dead" to the heavy jazz of Cole's "Litterly Hell" to the delicate duet "Tempestuous Tempeh" by the leader Wade. . The Consort Babakar Wade (Senegal) Rhythm Guitar and Vocals Samba Diop (Senegal) Percussion Barney Cole (USA) Lead Guitar Mairead O'Connor (Ireland) Keyboards Hans Z (Germany) Drums Vladimir Polchinski (Russia) Bass Jean-luc Sartre (France) Winds and Electronic Reeds Robert Kohn (Israel) Programming Lady Bret Fastley (England) Mallets Art Paisley (N. Ireland) Lambeg Drum* and Vocals *there is no Lambeg Drum on this recording ?The following is an excerpt of an interview with Babakar Wade of the Headwhiz Consort Moderne Internationale by Mohamed Jabbar Ali of the West African Music Journal. MJA: Hello Babakar how are you? BW: Very well thank yourself? MJA: Your debut release was an exquisite adventure back in the mid 90's. It has been almost ten years since. What was the reason? BW: Well as you know the Consort is not an easy creature to manage with everyone coming from different countries and even continents. After the first album we had toured quite a bit in support of it but then when that was over everyone went their ways and we did occasionally get together for some benefit concerts but we all have other projects. Barney (Cole) in particular was busy with his group "The Swingin' Shards". Myself I was actually enjoying the peace and solitude that comes from not being in the spotlight and on the road. I had gone through some difficult periods personally, although not as difficult as so many others on this earth have to deal with, but I lost my horse Lester and was very saddened by that. Mainly though I was out in my village tending to the day to day things that existence requires and being rather content in doing so. MJA: What got you to gather the Consort for this recording? A marked step up from your original release if I may add. BW: Thank you very much. Well I had received an e-mail from J. Kinslow McGrail (President of Mind Fry Enterprises) and he wanted us to put one out. This is really the genesis of this. Of course I am always playing music, indeed I could not do without it, but I do not always feel I have to go out and do it in the public eye. I can play for people in my village or just for myself or my new horse Amadou and that can be just as satisfying as for an entire concert hall in Paris or Montreux. But I came to America and discussed things with J. Kinslow and I wanted to do another album of John 's music but John wanted us to do some original music. It had gotten to the point after they looked at some of my scores and heard some of Barney's pieces that John thought we should just do our own material. As it turned out we did some of our own compositions and some of John's pieces. I think it worked out really well. MJA: Indeed. One of my favorite pieces of yours on the album is "Tempestuous Tempeh". Can you talk about that a little? BW: Well it is a piece that I had written the guitar part out just by sitting around at home and working on it. As I am not a very good pianist I couldn't do the same for that instrument but I knew that I wanted just piano as the only other instrument so I sat down and worked out the score for the guitar pa
