Ashley Goes Global

PERFORMING @ JUST 4 U in DAKAR, SENEGAL - April 2011

2011-05-13T15:16:00.001-07:00

SENEGAL AGAIN !!! After my Nov. 2010 visit to Dakar to record and film our ani-AIDS song “ON DIT MERCi,” I spent three months back in L.A. studying Senegalese mbalax, writing new material over mbalax grooves, and planning my next concert in Senegal. Once again, my extremely patient and generous fan base contributed toward my plane ticket and I headed back to Dakar in April 2011.

This arrival, after feeling my usual giddy sense of joy and wonder at the airport, I did NOT hit the ground running, Instead, I went straight to bed for three days of vomiting, fever, and stomach problems. LOL !! (unusual for me …). However, by the weekend, I got my groove back and started planning rehearsals and The Show with my musical director: bassist Thierno Sarr. I would spend my days doing promotion and we would rehearse for five evenings to prepare for the show.

with my musical director, brilliant musician and bassist THIERNO SARR

I also met with my long term beloved collaborators, GROUPE GOORGOORLU, who would be dancing and singing tassou: BAMBA GUEYE, DJILLY MBAYE, FALLOU NDIAYE

REHEARSALS started with great enthusiasm, all the musicians turning up prepared, on time, and ready to work hard. However, every day we ran into randomly timed and ridiculously long power outages. Although the down side of this was that five rehearsals became twelve, the advantage was that we all got to hang out and connect. Each musician had an interesting life story. And nothing made me happier than when they said they loved playing this music … that it was “authentic AND fresh.”

at rehearsal with THIERNO SARR, and keyboard player IBOU MBAYE

Each night, when everyone’s instruments went “pop” and we all plunged once again into darkness, I was impressed that there was no swearing, no moaning, no complaining … just everyone using their cellphones like flashlights, lighting some candles, going out to bring in coffees …. and then lots and lots funny stories. If the studio was stuffy, we’d end up on the rooftop, where the air was cool and everyone could spread out and chat.

rooftop w/ DJILY MBAYE, SAMBA NDOKH MBAYE, BAMBA GUEYE, & FALLOU NDIAYE

with dancer / tassou artist FALLOU NDIAYE

But when we DID get to rehearse, it was True Heaven. Here I was, official mbalax junkie, 7000 miles from home …. in Mbalax Central with some of the best mbalax musicians in Dakar! What a thrill !!

BLISS at rehearsal

Meanwhile, my daytime promotion went well. After multiple visits to Senegal I am now a familiar face at the TV / radio stations and with the journalists. “Ashley Wayyyyye! Nanga def? Namenala !!” (Ashley dear, how are you keeping? We missed you!). I also still love the chatty, patient, helpful, wheeling & dealing taxi drivers, who consistently make me laugh to and from appointments.

MAYACINE AK DIAL: One coup was when a Senegalese friend who’d I’d know long ago in Los Angeles recognized me after an enormous street party in Guediawaye. Youssou N’Dour’s TV station TFM had filmed the tannebeer (party) for their program “Dakar Ne Dors Pas,” showcasing the dance group AFRICA NDIGUEL and stars like Ndeye Gueye, Gorgui Ndiaye, Ndiole Tall, and Oumou Sow. After Goorgoorlu and I sang and danced a playback of “ON DIT MERCI” for about 4000 people, my friend Pape Diene Ndiaye tracked me down in the crowd.

PAPE DIENE NDIAYE (in stripes) and the crew of MAYACINE AK DIAL

When I knew him in LA, Pape talked constantly about cameras, how he dreamed of working in film / TV, and how he loved Senegal. All this time later and he now directs Senegal’s #1 comedy, MAYACINE AK DIAL. In a country inundated with imported soap operas from India, Spain, France, Portugal, and Brazil, Mayacine ak Dial is culturally very important. Created by a completely Senegalese crew and featuring Senegalese actors, Myancine ak Dial tells very Senegalese stories. Pape invited me to appear in an episode that we created and improvised together about me looking for a hair salon and I laughed the entire day working on it..

The character Dial is played by actor NDEYE SENE … her face is eternally hilarious

MAYACINE AK DIAL: here I am in the season three teaser preview… !

THE BIG SHOW: Our show was April 21. What a magical and powerful night !!! A national TV station, 2STV, came down to film the concert with professional lights, cameras, and sound, the band played brilliantly, numerous excellent dancers came down to join in, Senegalese artists Abou Thioubalo, Ndigueul MC, Aliou Guisee, Yatma Thiam, and Toula guested on the mic, Groupe Goorgoorlu danced and sang tassou like True Masters, and it was a throw down PARTY !

Here is a photo album of the whole trip … viewable via Facebook only http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150244264990522.366715.726420521

My Dream Band: SAMBA NDOKH MBAYE (tama), IBOU MBAYE (piano) PAPE ABLAYE DIENG (drums), BAYE DIOP (guitar), THIERNO SARR (bass, behind me) and DUPAIN CISSOKH (sabar).

w/ GOORGOORLU: DJILLY MBAYE (mic) BAMBA GUEYE, AHMET (guest) & FALLOU NDIAYE

A moment to solo

NDIGUEUL MC (far right) and NGUEWEUL RHYTMES surprised us at the end of SMALL BOATS

all together with GOORGOORLU

Afterwards, I met a load of new friends and Facebook contacts, took photos, and sold CDs. JUST 4 U’s owners raved about the show , saying, “Senegal needs this !!! Your show is exciting and original !! The next time you come, we will give you a prime night and promote it heavily ourselves.” YES!!!

PARIS: The next evening, I flew to Paris for a long weekend on the way home to Los Angeles, staying with brilliant bassist Idy Diallo and his lovely wife Julia. I stopped in to see my friend Jean-Philippe Rykiel for a delicious lunch. (Jean-Philippe produced some of my all time favorite Salif Keita and Youssou N’Dour records, has a rich history of collaborating with West African musicians and groups like Xalam, and wrote the original music for the song AMINA on my last CD). Back at his studio he asked to hear my new mbalax demos (bless him) and played along as he listened …

I also took a wonderful workshop with YAMA WADE (aka “Reine de Sabar”).

Yama truly is a Queen … exacting, fierce, creative, a consummate sabar dancer, and yet also warm and very very funny. One student took this video of Yama and I solo-ing. (Visible via Facebook) http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2057720965243

After class, more hanging out and horsing around … so much fun!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150237539125522

The rest of my time in Paris, I caught up with friends, enjoyed the delicious spring time air, napped in parks, and wandered in and out of churches to meditate in the Quiet. Although I don’t “belong” to any religion in particular, I love all holy places. Churches, mosques, synagogues, the beach, mountain tops, cliff tops, deserts, under certain trees … these are all equal altars to me. By chance, I ended up in Notre Dame for their dusk Easter Service. It was hot and packed and I found a small stone ledge across from the staggeringly beautiful Rose Window. As the choir burst into ecstatic singing, with all that prayerful energy and a whole bank of candles lit across from me, I just burst into tears and cried through the whole service. So moving and wonderful… !

The last night in Paris, Yama, her friend Roxanne, and I went to Club Titan for their Soiree Senegalaise and danced all night. Got home at 6am before another friend Rougui So drove me out to the airport for my morning flight. Slept all the way home on the plane … in fact, slept the whole next week. But now that the laundry is done and the bills have been paid, I am back at the desk planning the Next Chapter of this Musical Journey. I am very very blessed.

ON DIT MERCI song / video - Dakar, Senegal Nov. 2010

2010-12-08T13:31:00.000-08:00

When Souleymane “Jules” Kane (manager for Cheikh Lô and Daara J) invited me to perform in Dakar for World AIDS Day on Dec. 1^st, 2010 and requested that I write a song for the event, I took it as a challenge. After hearing tragic ineffectual songs for years about “children crying” and “people dying” written about such subjects, was there a way a song that somehow could be positive, inspiring, even funny, in relation to such a terrible disease?

The result was “ON DIT MERCI” The song describes that moment during lovemaking when a couple pauses (the music pauses, too) to reach for a condom … and how that decision is a celebration of good health, safety, love, and protection for oneself and one’s children.

ON DIT MERCI

Since it would be written in Wolof and French, I collaborated via Skype and email on the lyric translations with my dear friends Badou Boussou for the Wolof (lives in Canada) and Carmen Odimba for the French (she lives in Germany). Plus, Fallou Ndiaye from Groupe Goorgoorlu, enthusiastically sang me a whole verse he’d created in Wolof at top volume from a street in Dakar … complete with buses rolling by and me shouting, “Encore? Encore! C’est difficile te comprendre avec tout le bruit (noise).”

Fallou Ndiaye and I on the way to a performance in Dakar, Senegal

When I realized that my schedule would not allow me to perform for the festival, I went to Dakar early .. in November. I asked Jimi Mbaye’s engineer, Moussa Niang, if Jimi’s studio was free while he was touring with Youssou N’Dour? “Sure!” said Moussa, “come over!” At Keur Dogo (Jimi’s house), Moussa got on the phone. Most of my own Dakar-based musicians were away, touring with Cheikh Lô, so Moussa called some other A-list musicians. I wanted to hug him as I heard him explain in Wolof, “Yes, she is toubab (a foreigner) but she doesn’t have a ton of money. It’s just a quick session to record one song.”

Bless them, they all said, “Waaw Waaw!” and the next night we gathered at 6pm. Jeannot Mendy (guitar) plays with Viviane and is super accomplished and gifted. He nearly came to Berklee School of Music in the States, but circumstances kept him in Dakar. Ibou Mbaye (keyboards) was a total master of mbalax piano playing. Really gentle spirit, twinned with furious flying fingers. Abdourakhman Fall (bass) performs with Jeannot … another super gifted musician. The ever firey Aliou Seck (sabar) used to play with my idol, Ndongo Lo, and performed with me last April in Dakar. Pape Ablaye Dieng (drums) is a master of taste and space and also performed with me last April. Yatma Thiam (tama) is Assan Thiam’s son, a young superstar over there, and gave the session 150% … super creative and hilarious. And finally, Fallou Ndiaye, Bamba Gueye, and Djilly Mbaye of Groupe Goorgoorlu arrived later to contribute their utterly brilliant and hilarious spoken tassou to the song.

Abdourakhman Fall (bass), Moussa Niang (realisateur), Aliou Seck (sabar) Ibou Mbaye (piano)

Jeannot Mendy (guitar) Ibou Mbaye (piano) Yours Truly and Aliou Seck (sabar)

What a magical night! The musicians learned the music and made it their own at lightening speed, all in an atmosphere of so much laughter and connection. Everyone knew everyone, so it felt like a reunion. They praised the song and LOVED the “pause” in the music, even while struggling to make it work with their rolling mbalax. Moussa was a master of keeping things running smoothly and quickly. No click track. Just a live take, a few overdubs, some hilarious moments while Yatma recorded his tama, and then me on the floor laughing when Goorgoorlu recorded their tassou. Lots of café touba and sandwiches, Jimi’s daughter Maman and guitarist son, Elage, hanging out, and, of course, constant dancing and clowning around. PARADISE!!!! I recorded the vocals in about 20 minutes and we called it a night.

Aliou Seck on fire in Jimi Mbaye's studio

Goorgoorlu giving me a heart attack laughing

Goorgoorlu teasing / singing songs about tama star Yatma Thiam

Rehearsing in advance. I recorded the vocals in about 20 minutes!

Endless clowning around and dancing

with Yatma Thiam

The next day, Moussa and I mixed the track in about 2 hours … fresh, funny, and lively. Everyone loved it and insisted it could be a huge hit in Senegal, so Goorgoorlu called one of Senegal’s top video directors and said, “Hey Papis! (Niang) We have just recorded this excellent new single … would you give us a good price to film it?” Taxi to Papis’ office … more laughter and good vibes. Papis loved the song and said, “Yeah! Let’s do it!”

Video Director Extraordinaire Papis Niang

On break from rehearsals

All ready to shoot for the green screen!

The next two days, Goorgoorlu choreographed the song and we rehearsed in my living room. Again, Total Heaven. Not only are they constantly funny, but their dance combinations are so creative and tasty. Yes! I borrowed some clothes from friends and we met Papis at his studio the next day. Lights / changing / preparations / cameras set up / everyone ready and drinking coffee / first run-through and then …. The power went out. AAAAHHH!

Waiting for the power to come back on .. Fallou Ndiaye and Djilly Mbaye

with the delightful, super talented Bamba Gueye

In recent visits, I notice Dakar’s power outages here and there, but now, they are really crippling…. not just 20 minutes or an hour now and then, but 4 / 6 / 24 hours nearly every day, with everyone lighting candles and stores losing masses of merchandise. Really tough. The Senegalese have admirable patience, but it has become a national complaint.

The next day, power back on, and we rocked it. Take after take after take .. all simple and direct in front of the green screen. When I wasn’t performing, I was laughing at Goorgoorlu. Later, we returned to my apartment to film the last segment, Papis and his crew edited the video the next day, and we were done!!!

As always, the Goorgoorlu and I spent most night in the clubs dancing and performing. Our wonderful playback at Ndeye Gueye’s packed new soiree at Ravin in Pikine had the audience screaming, plus we did some radio promotion and the usual round robin of baptisms, marriage celebrations, and birthdays. The minute Goorgoorlu arrive anywhere, it’s an instant party.

with Senegal's Dance Diva Star Ndeye Gueye

Also, I had the honor of meeting up with legendary American music journalist, Robert Christgau. A mutual friend had given him my number, saying that I could take him to some concerts while he was visiting Dakar, so I took him to see Goyane singer Khady Mboup at Ravin, Yoro Ndiaye at JUST 4 U, and helped coordinate an interview with Orchestra Baobab. Bob was a soldier. When I told him Khady’s show started at 2:30am, he unflinchingly observed, “OK. I’ll take a disco nap!” It felt so good to see him with his pad of paper taking enthusiastic notes at 3am … a great opportunity for Senegalese culture to find first class exposure in America.

Meeting with Orchestra Baobab

With Legendary Music Journalist Robert Christgau

Since returning to Los Angeles, ON DIT MERCI has been in heavy rotation on Senegalese TV, thanks to Papis and Goorgoorlu’s efforts. I have received scores of emails saying “I just saw your new clip!!” from over there. Plus, online it’s been doing well on YouTube and Seneweb.com emailed to say they loved it so much, they were putting it on their front page. In three days, it’s been seen by over 11,000 people. How awesome is that?

Life is good and I am very very very blessed. I wonder what’s next?

Canada / Dakar / JUST 4 U concert - April 2010

2010-05-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

When a group of Senegalese ladies in Ottawa, Canada, invited me to dance for their 50^th Anniversary Celebration of Senegal’s Independence, I was honored! They sent me a ticket and I was on my way! I spent two days at singer / percussionist Elage Mbaye’s house with musicians dropping by and a general air of celebration.

The party itself was wonderful: everyone dressed up in their royal best, guest drummers in from Montreal, and lots of good food and music. Since Ottawa is Canada’s capital city, many of the attendees worked in the government and many never EVER danced sabar. One beautifully coiffed woman at the end told me that watching me, a toubab, dance sabar made her proud her country’s culture and encouraged her reconnect with it herself. Everyone was so friendly and festive. Senegal dieum kanam!

With drummers ELAGE DIOUF, SADIO CISSOKHO, and TOBIE

with producer / keyboard player ABDOU SY

On Monday morning, Abdou and Elage drove me to the airport to fly to ….

DAKAR!!! Yes, Dakar again! Since Ottawa’s Senegalese community had covered the cost of my flight to the east coast, they’d paid for me to get halfway to Senegal. Anything to get me back there! Once again, the minute I saw Dakar beneath me at dawn, my whole spirit lit up. The moist warmth and smell of the air outside the plane, the bus at the bottom of the stairs waiting to ferry us a hilarious 100 feet to the terminal, the customs officers with their glasses on the end of their noses, the Senegalese looking so happy to be home, the sound of people saying “Salam Aleikoum,” the winding carousel and big x-ray machine in baggage claim, and then … stepping out to find friends and take a taxi home. Heaven!

Like my last visit, I stayed in Camberène 2. Clean room, foam pad, fan, clothes folded in piles on the floor, and a tiny all-in-one bathroom. Perfect! The very next day, I started off on my usual promo routine! With Alyune DIop in charge, I first got my second video clip to all four TV stations. It felt really good to have reunions with TV people I had met last November. They were all very happy with the video and got it into rotation right away.

SMALL BOATS – featuring NDIGUEUL MC and GOORGOORLU, filmed by JEAN DIOUF and edited by MEL METCALFE III

When I stopped by WALF TV, I got very very lucky. Modou Dieng (in charge of videos) wanted to show me all the new developments at the station, so we went floor to floor, in and out of this and that room, meeting and greeting everyone. When we arrived at a big room I recognized from my last visit (when Goorgoorlu was interviewed along with other tassou artists and we all danced up a storm for the cameras), there were three people sitting inside. A well-known radio / TV personality named Maty Dieng comically said “Yow!” (You!), you should get down on your hands and knees and thank me. Every time your video has played on WALF TV, it’s because I have been in there saying, ‘Play that video again! I love this woman!’” We had a hilarious conversation until she waved her hand and said, “Hey Chiekh Tidiane! Get Ashley on your ATAYA program on Friday night.” Just like that!

On Wednesday we all turned up for the taping. Comedian San Ndiogo and a woman named Ndeye was interviewing reggae artist Sun Sooley, a polician, and myself as a surprise guest. While Sun and the politician handled San Ndiogo’s constant barbs and humor with grace and intelligence, I was hilariously lost. San Ndiogo pounded me with rapid-fire comic questions in Wolof and I am laughing out loud right now to remember my look of total confusion. When I could squeeze it in, I spoke about my music / purpose / passion for mbalax, too.

Finally, I got a chance to perform a playback version of Small Boats, with Fallou and Bamba dancing on either side. The whole studio sang along with the Mame Cheikh Ibra Fall ending. So beautiful!

dressed in taille basse with BAMBA GUEYE, SAN NDIOGO, and FALLOU NDIAYE

with reggae artist SUN SOOLEY

looking fierce with my lady friends: MAME DOER, SOXNA, and KINE NDIAYE

with BAMBA GUEYE and FALLOU NDIAYE

ATAYA showed on Friday night at 10pm, repeated on Saturday afternoon and, I soon realized, was a far bigger deal than I had imagined. EVERYONE had watched it! It was total prime time. For the rest of my stay, kids ran up to me in the streets, women stopped me to say they loved my song / voice, people leaned out of bus windows and sang, “LA ILA LAAA…” to me, security guards said, “Jerejef Ash-LAY” when I left the bank, and so many taxi drivers recognized me, I gave them all copies of my CD!

A typical moment when some girls recognized us and insisted on having photos taken…

Next was radio. Alyune set me up each day with interviews with Dakar's DJs, who were all charming and welcoming. . . a typical radio station, Dakar FM with DJ JADRE

the booth where I was interviewed ... vive le mbalax!!!

with DJ JADRE

While bouncing around town, I also saw good friends such as wonderful acoustic artist YORO NDIAYE

Also painter / sculptor / photographer Maaike Wiarda and the very talented Ndigueul MC

Most evenings, I rehearsed in Parcelles with a fully Senegalese band, organized by brilliant bassist, Thierno Sarr. This was surely the highlight of my trip. My band was so talented, professional, punctual, creative, easy-going, ego-free, hard working, and crazy hot playing my mbalax tunes, I thought I would pass out with happiness. Even when the electricity would cut out, it didn’t matter … just great vibes in the room, everyone positive and focused. The last three days, my dear Goorgoolu dancer friends, Fallou Ndiaye and Bamba Gueye, came along and made me laugh so hard with their choreography, everyone made me face the wall so I could sing without falling apart. Here they all are:

bassist extraordinaire THIERNO SARR

ever hilarious and gifted guitarist BAYE DIOP

I nearly fainted when they told me that ALIOU SECK played for Ndongo Lo. What an honor!

the detail master of the keyboard – ARONA BARRY

kind, patient, and fierce on drums at the back: PAPE ABDOULAYE DIENG

trying not to laugh with FALLOU NDIAYE and BAMBA GUEYE dancing before me!

BLISS!

On March 23^rd, we performed at JUST 4 U, opening for Senegal’s amazing Carlou D. What a wonderful night! Ever since I visited JUST 4 U in 2008, I had dreamed of performing there and here I was playing my OWN music with some of Dakar’s best musicians and dancers! We started off calmly and built built built to a firey mbalax finish, much to the surprise of the JUST 4 U regulars. Here was our last number with some tasty dancing at the end ...

TRY TO HIDE – Live at JUST 4 U

What a wonderful band!

Paradis!

with The Divine CARLOU D!

(of course, Bamba and Fallou already knew Carlou D)

Two days later, I was on a plane back to Los Angeles, already wondering how to return and carry on working / collaborating / developing artistically in Dakar. The more time I spend there, the more clear my purpose becomes. So much to do .... now I just need to find the support to get me back!

CD Release Party for AMINA @ The Talking Stick

2010-03-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

My CD Release Party at The Talking Stick in Los Angeles on March 18^th was a perfect way to celebrate Spring’s arrival. A warm night, a roomful of good people from all over the world, and earthy connected energy from beginning to end. Such a pleasure to introduce a whole CD's worth of such beautiful new material.

Truly a lovely concert ... / photo by Mila Reynaud

golden-voiced Gambian, KADIATOU SIBI, opened the evening

... followed by South Carolina's New Star, the Divine KARA MACK

For my own show, I was blessed with an absolutely world class band: Otmaro Ruiz (piano / Venezuela), Katisse Buckingham (horns / USA), Walter Rodriguez (drums / Puerto Rico), Marcelo Caseras (guitar / Argentina), Magatte Sow (sabar & tama / Senegal), and Dante Pascuzzo (bass / USA). They mastered the entire set of new material in two rehearsals and gelled like they’d played together for years.

With Marcelo Caseras, Otmaro Ruiz, and Katisse Buckingham / photo by Mila Reynaud

Thiane Diouf joined me for the song "Small Boats"

AMINA’s producer ANDRE MANGA guested, on break from his global touring as Angelique Kidjo’s musical director / photo by Mila Reynauld

Our set was a slow burn that grew to a big fire at the end. Senegalese newcomers, Thiane and Baye Balla Diouf, joined Magatte on sabar drums for a throw down dance party. Here's a clip of the grand finale:

Magatte Sow on fire … he even threw in a Michael Jackson move! Thiane and Baye Balla on sabar drums

There always has to be at least one photo of Kara and I being silly

Oh man, I was so happy!

with L.A.'s young lions of sabar: Magatte Sow, Baye Balla Diouf, and Thiane Diouf

LAURI REIMER of Music Magique Promotions did a wonderful job organizing and promoting the show. Enthusiastic, super detail oriented and positive, she had countless great ideas to make the evening special.

Lauri Reimer – Promoter par excellence!

KPFK’s Sergio Mielniczenko invited me to chat & sing the prior Friday. He's always been so supportive!

singing to Los Angeles ... "Come to the Party!"

My friend and ally in all things Senegalese, Lynette Wich, helped create the ambiance by burning Senegalese incense. She also contributed one of her beautiful painting to the stage setting.

Photographer / artist Lynette Wich prepares the incense!

our excellent sound man, Eric Ahlberg

Kahlil Cummings, Kara's guitarist Noreen, and Chris (a.k.a Scrapploc)

The flyer … what a wonderful night!

Sabar, The Movie @ LA's Pan-African Film Festival

2010-02-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, when I saw an online notice that they were seeking African-American dancers for a feature film called, Sabar, I forwarded it to dancers I knew in LA. Two days later, at rehearsal, my dear backing vocalist, Lambert Moss, looked me square in the eye and said, “Ashley, you have GOT to fly up to Oakland and audition for that movie. You are an excellent sabar dancer … in fact … you, Kara (Mack), AND Alecia (Hudson) should go.” This made me burst out laughing. Me? Alecia? Audition? But they specifically asked for African-American dancers. Lambert, bless him, was adamant.

So sure enough, a few weeks later, Alecia, Kara, and I made our way up to Oakland. We walked in and signed up, blithely ignoring the women-behind-the-desk’s raised eyebrows, and trying not to look nervous.

The auditions were simple. Alassane Kane gave us choreography and we danced, then introduced ourselves on camera. The film’s Nigerian director Chike Nwoffiah later told us that he and his producer were super surprised to see these two white girls in the midst of everyone, throwing down! Alecia, Kara, and I all danced really well and were accepted for the movie. Waaw Waaw!!

with director Chike Nwoffiah at the L.A.’s Pan-African Film Festival screening in L.A.

Sabar, The Movie’s synopsis reads thus: “An African American hip-hop girl resists the ancestral call of the Senegalese dance "Sabar". When she finally gives in, she discovers more than a dance - she finds herself.” Chike fell in love with the energy and beauty of sabar at the Malonga Casquelourd Performing Arts Center in Oakland and did a beautiful job weaving it into his story.

For the film, Kara, Alecia, and I were extras. We danced in the background for the movie’s class scenes, rehearsal scenes, and the final show. The cast and crew were fantastically nice, Bunmi DeRosario (lead actress and BOMB dancer) was awesome, and both weekends’ worth of filming were so fun and hilarious, I came home to LA with a sore throat from laughing.

Kara Mack, Yours Truly, and Alecia Hudson at my own show at The Conga Room

When filming the final show, I asked Chike what he had in mind for costumes? He assured me that costumes would be provided. Half and hour later, he distributed them to the dancers and mine fit into my hand like a small stack of handkerchiefs. ???????? When I looked up, as if to say, “This? A loin cloth and black bra covered in cowrie shells?” Chike laughed out loud and replied, “You signed on the dotted line … now go and put it on!”

I solemnly walked downstairs to the dressing room as if going to my execution, imagining spotlights hitting my lone, alabaster white skin onstage (Alecia couldn’t make that filming). I was going to blind the audience! LOL! With mock gravity, I unzipped my bag, pulled out an industrial strength bottle of tanning lotion and insisted that Kara slop it all over my body from head to toe. With the crew photographer snapping away, she and I were helpless with laughter.

Man, that night was really liberating for me, as I had no choice but to transcend all my fears and nerves and just DANCE. Normally, I don’t wear revealing things, yet here I was, wearing not much more than a bottle of tanning lotion (as my mum would say in her British accent, “Nothing left to the imagination!”) dancing in front of a packed house for cameras that would carry my image to big screens everywhere. Brilliant!

SOOOO, all this time later, Chike brought Sabar, The Movie to The Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles. We all went down to see it and had a wonderful evening. The audience enjoyed the film, Chike was in top form, Kara made me fall about laughing as usual, and we all took photos on the red carpet afterwards. I am not sure I really merited The Red Carpet, as all that was left of me in the final edit was a handful of shots of my alabaster love handles and red hair flying in and out of view, but I loved it! My daughter, Koyan, had spent the whole movie yelping, “There you are! There you are again! You look great, Mom!” by my side, bless her.

I wish the movie well. Well done, Chike and crew! Sabar dafa neex!!

Rocking The Red Carpet, Baby!

with actor Curtis Campbell, Sunny Moore, and her friend Vanessa

Dance Goddess Kara Mack, my beloved daughter, Koyan, director Chike Nwoffiah, and LA drum prodigy, Kahlil Cummings

Ottawa and Montreal for Elage Mbaye and Oumar Ndiaye's Concerts

2010-02-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

Senegalese artist Elage Mbaye and his producer, Abdou Sy, invited me to Ottawa, Canada, last weekend for the release of Elage’s new CD, Askane. Elage and I recorded a cover of Youssou N’Dour’s classic song, Pitch Mi, as a duet, for the record.

After flying from LA to Detroit, I caught a tiny plane to Ottawa. Passport control at Ottawa waved me along to be grilled by an immigration officer … which was a novel experience. For years, I have heard so many stories about my African friends and husband enduring such interrogations, I was almost proud of the Canadians for pulling over a NON-African! Go Canada!

The more I answered his questions, the more suspicious I could feel myself sounding. How long are you staying? One weekend. Who are you staying with? Elage Mbaye. How did you meet? MySpace. How long ago? Two years. Maybe I was smuggling something or someone into Canada or out of Canada or …. huh? My cellphone rang and he barked at me not to answer it. I remarked that wow, this was really interesting. What had triggered me as suspicious? And, by the way, did he know I was born in Montreal?

With that, he glanced back tensely at my passport where it read PLACE OF BIRTH: CANADA and looked embarrassed. Oh. No worries. I thanked him and said I understood and yay for Canada for pulling me over and he looked even more confused.

It was a bumpy start to a wonderful weekend. Elage and his family lived in a lovely house with snow everywhere. They all laughed at my meager coat and scarf before furnishing me with proper Canadian gear! I walked every day outside with bright skies above. So great!

Friday night, we rehearsed at Elage’s producer, Abdou Sy’s place. Abdou on keyboards, Elage singing and playing tama, Clarence Smith (from Philadelphia) on bass, and N’Sa Fall and his girlfriend Marie there as “groupies.” What a fun and festive night!

with Elage Mbaye

At rehearsal, Clarence Smith was a cauldron of sunny energy. Coming in out of the snow with a bass and guitar over his shoulder and a drum machine in one hand, he cooked up groove after slamming groove that was “straight out of Philly.” …. or hitched his energy to the bubbly mbalax singing from Abdou’s keyboard.

with the irrepressible Clarence Smith

Elage’s show was Heaven: packed, international, and festive. He had a wonderful mix of musicians from all over Africa (Senegal, Nigeria, Congo, Tanzania, Canada, and more) and the vibe between them all was joyous and generous. Apart from singing my duet with Elage and improvising during his new Song for Haiti, I mostly danced down front. Three Senegalese party mamas named Tako, Ndeye Coumba, and Adja were my instant allies. Decked out in beautiful bazin, those three knew how to throw DOWN!

with Ndeye Coumba and Tako

Tako in particular was hilarious … I loved how they’d insist the crowd step back to give them space and then we’d launch into another improvised dance comedy scene. Everyone had a chance to shine. So great! Got to bed at 4am!

Tako in charge

with producer, Abdou Sy

On Sunday, Abou, Elage, and I drove to Montreal for Oumar “Xosluman” Ndiaye’s show at Balattou. Beautiful drive through the Canadian countryside and I was happy in the backseat watching Youssou N’Dour’s Montreaux concert on Abdou’s laptop. I smiled to watch Riche Faye dancing with his trademark joy and confidence at such a young age. He must have been about 14! What an amazing show! Abdou, Elage and I talked about mbalax mbalax mbalax, watched videos, chatted about dancers and Dakar. Sigh. SO FUN! We stopped briefly at Ndeye Coumba’s house in Montreal for food and more fierce mbalax videos before heading over to Balattou!

Another wonderful night! I was happy to see Oumar Ndiaye’s wife, Marie-Helène at the door, as they had been so hospitable to me the last time I was in Montreal. We made our way across the packed room to the bar and Oumar said from the mic, “Tonight, we have a special guest all the way from California! We love her because she loves Senegal … and dances better than most of us! Ash-LAY Ma-YER!” To my shameless delight, all the Senegalese were looking around like, “Ash-LAY? Where? Where?” Oh Oumar, je t'adore!

In fact, some of Montreal’s finest Senegalese musicians were at the club that night. I was thrilled to see Zale Seck (I recorded the backing vocals for his last CD) and his brilliant guitarist son, Assane. I last saw Assane at Just 4 U in Dakar, backing Yoro Ndiaye, and here he was onstage with Oumar. Such a beautiful spirit and WHAT TALENT!!!!

with Zale Seck and his talented guitarist son, Assane Seck

Assane and Oumar “Xosluman” Ndiaye

The evening was a full blown party! The grooves were on fire, I solo-ed and sang, everyone was happy to be together, the Senegalese ALL got up and danced, Zale played drums, Elage Mbaye and Elage Diouf (of Les Freres Diouf) guested alongside excellent sabar drummer Amar Fall to cook up some BURNING sabar. Elage Mbaye later looked at his cracked / painful left thumb and said, “Wow, I haven’t played that hard in a looooonnnng time!” Neexna neexna neexna torop torop torop!

with Elage Diouf, Amar Fall, and Abdou Sy

After a two hour drive home and a hot shower, I gratefully crawled under Elage’s son’s Godzilla duvet for a very good night’s sleep. Plane home the next day to the sunshine in Los Angeles. Ah, I love my life!

my Godzilla duvet at Elage’s house!

Promoting AMINA in Dakar, Nov. 2009

2010-01-26T13:35:00.000-08:00

Apologies that it’s Jan 2010 and so late to be writing about November 2009!

I spent last November in Dakar, Senegal, promoting my new 5th CD, Amina. For weeks running up to my departure, I kept asking my allies, “What’s the program? What’s the program?” Surely my days in Dakar would be a well-oiled series of meetings and interviews? But everyone replied, ‘Don’t worry, it will all come together”… while nothing seemed to be “coming together” in the slightest.

On the plane, I felt decidedly uneasy. Here I was, having sunk money I didn’t really have into a “cheap” LAX / Dakar roundtrip ticket (IS there such a thing?), with a box of brand new CDs, cheerily winging my way to Senegal with no concrete plan at all. AAAHH!!!!

My heart lit up as usual as we descended toward Dakar’s Leopold Senghor airport. This was the 6th time in two years I had been to Senegal. I even recognized the customs guys in their booths as I said “Salam Alaikum” and pushed my paperwork under the glass. Yes! Baggage claim, then customs, then smiling as I said “Deedeet, jerejef” (No thanks!) to the hustling taxi drivers and baggage carriers, before my Goorgoorlu dancer friends appeared from the crowd and grabbed my suitcases.

For this visit, I stayed in Camberene 2, chez Astou Ndiaye. We arrived in the early morning hours to find a clean room, foam mattress on the floor and small shower / bathroom of my own. YES! Astou (a friend of friends) and her family were characteristically welcoming. As usual, I unpacked my suitcase into neat piles on the floor along one wall, charged my cheap Senegalese cellphone, and was ready to GO!

Before singing live on Youssou N'Dour's radio station RFM for Babacar Fall's program, Café Muzik with Mame Thierno Seck (guitar), Adama Faye (perc), and Fallou Ndiaye (from Goorgoorlu)

For the next three weeks, each day started with cafe touba, bread, and butter from the corner shop, eaten on my bedroom floor. I'd go through my notes, make phone calls, and be in a taxi by 10am. All day, until 8pm, I bounced around Dakar being interviewed by newspapers / magazines / on TV / on the radio, and handing out 100 CDs one by one!

baguette, butter, and cafe touba, Senegal's delicious spiced coffee

Soon, I realized why nothing had been planned in advance. Nothing COULD be planned in advance! Africa is … shall we say … far more spontaneous than the West. A wonderful man handling my press was at the hub of my day’s wheel. I would do an interview or two (never knowing how long the journey, the waiting, the interview itself would take), before calling him for my next assignment. This worked like a dream!!! It was impossible for my schedule to become a train wreck of missed appointments. Instead, everything seemed easy-going, relaxed, efficient.

with my friend, Djibril Ndiaye Rose, in central Dakar before interviewing with Ndeye Mane Touré

After a long journey home, I would sleep for three hours and then the Goorgoorlu dancers would pick me up to dance in clubs, soirees, and at concerts. HEAVEN! Home just before dawn, I'd sleep again until 9am …. before starting all over again!

My time was extremely well spent in Dakar. In those three weeks, I made a ton of new “connaissances,” sang live at Youssou N’Dour’s RFM radio station, opened for Orchestra Baobab at Just 4 U, networked, saw Baaba Maal, Orchestra Baobab, Fallou Dieng, and numerous other wonderful artists live, met musicians, missed meeting Morgan Heritage by an hour (waaah! they were also doing promo in Dakar), filmed my second video, including a trip to Lacque Rose, and spent the blissful early morning hours dancing with Goorgoorlu. I will stop here and reserve further stories for my next blog entries. My postings need to be shorter!!

With Ndiguel MC, who starred in my second video, and his wonderful group, Ngueweul Rythme

Vive le Senegal! When I returned to LA, I slept for a week solid. Oh, I cannot wait to return!!!!!

SUMMER TOUR '09 - Part 4: London / Youssou NDour's show

2009-08-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Just returned to Los Angeles after six glorious weeks out in the world: touring, performing, singing, dancing! This is part 4

LONDON
Arriving back from Dakar, I was tempted to push my entire suitcase into the washing machine in London. But luckily, a gigantic bag of café touba offset the smell of clothes that had been danced and sweated in for two heavenly weeks.

Another quick turn around. The next morning, I was BACK at Heathrow, but this time waiting for my 9-year-old daughter, Koyan, who had braved a 10 hour flight from Los Angeles to have two weeks with me in London and France. We were SO HAPPY to see one another after a month apart! She cheerfully told me she had neeearly made it, but barfed on the descent when the plane was in a holding pattern. I just LOVE her!

The next week, we pin-balled around London, seeing the sights, visiting friends, sampling the city’s awesome parks, cafes, bus routes, nooks and crannys. So much fun!

At the amazing new Diana, Princess of Wales’ Memorial Playground

YOUSSOU NDOUR LONDON CONCERT
The one Saturday I was in London, Youssou Ndour was playing at Indigo (ALHAMDOULILAH!). Koyan stayed with friends and I went alone … and early. Once inside, I sat by the wall on the nearly empty floor and just watched the place fill steadily. Anyone who loves Youssou’s music is my instant friend. Soon, I was chatting to one person after another. A young man recognized me from performing at Bercy ’08 and told me sincerely that my dancing was “grave,” (love that!). Finally, Youssou came on. Oh, he and Les Super Etoiles threw down a wonderful show.

Backstage with YOUSSOU NDOUR after his show in London

I was particularly excited to see dancer Pape Moussa Sonko from up front. I had only seen him in videos or from the side of the stage. His dancing is so creative, powerful, fun, and effortless ... What a Master!

with Divine Dancer PAPE MOUSSA SONKO

A few songs into the show, everyone onstage had spotted me. I was down front to the side dancing with a pile of hilarious SeneGambians who I’d just met. Every new song would bring on an eruption of fresh enthusiasm from the floor.

When they played the song I co-wrote for Youssou, Boul Bayekou, he called me up onto the stage. The security guard said. “No way!” until I pointed behind him. He turned to see Youssou emphatically pointing at me to say, “Get her up here NOW!” . . . Oh. . . . The guard helped me up onto the stage himself! I turned to the audience, adjusted my hat with a smile to make sure it wouldn’t fall off, and solo-ed with total glee. Afterwards? … more dancing, of course!

When the show was over, there was a rush for the backstage, but an excellent DJ was playing my fave mbalax, so I couldn’t tear myself away from the floor. Finally, Jimi Mbaye and Pape Moussa came out and they insisted I come backstage, so I did. Said Hello to everyone before more dancing outside.

WIth ABDOULAYE LO (drums) and BIRAME DIENG (backing vocals)
They both performed on my upcoming 5th CD.
(Love the pink backstage pass on my thigh!)

It took 3 buses to get allll the way back across London that night. I met 10 SeneGambian students on the bus’ top deck and we chatted the whole way. Arrived home cold, tired, and happy at 5am! Vive Youssou N’dour et Les Super Etoiles de Dakarrrrr! Vive London!

SUMMER TOUR '09 - Part 3: DAKAR

2009-08-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

Just returned to Los Angeles after six glorious weeks out in the world: touring, performing, singing, dancing! HEAVEN! THIS IS PART #3

DAKAR, SENEGAL
After traveling all day long from Spain, I dragged my bag up Ladbroke Grove, slept one night, did laundry the next morning, and then got a train BACK out to Heathrow to catch a flight to Paradise … DAKAR!!!!

After a midnight connection in Casablanca, my second flight arrived at Dakar’s airport at 2:30am. My dear friends, the dancers of Goorgoorlu, met and drove me to stay at their cousins’ apartment near to them. My room had a mattress, two sheets, fan, mosquito net, small adjacent bathroom with shower inside. Perfect! My flat mates were two 23-year-old hilarious, kind, and open-hearted young women named Kine Ndiaye and Mame Doeur and another relative named Issa. We all hit it off instantly, laughed and danced all day long to the steady stream of mbalax videos on the TV in the hallway.

Bamba Gueye and Fallou Ndiaye of the Groupe Goorgoorlu

My kind, warm, and hilarious apt mates:
Fatou Ndiaye and Mame Doeur

Dancing every day in the corridor (note the mbalax videos on the TV!)
Kine Ndiaye, Awa Chiekh, and Mame Doeur

For the next two weeks, Fallou Ndiaye and Bamba Gueye (and sometimes Djilly Mbaye) took me EVERYWHERE with them. My general schedule was this: I’d wake up at 10 am, have café touba, bread and butter with the girls, rehearse with Bamba and Fallou, lunch, nap, and then there would be a swirl of activity until 9pm.

Bamba Gueye, Djibril Ndiaye Rose, me, and Fallou Ndiaye
after dancing for Djibril’s new video

Once home, I’d sleep from 9pm until midnight, then get up again, groggily dress, and they’d pick me up in a taxi to dance at a club or concert until 5am … every night for two weeks. Oh, it was beyond heaven.

During the time I was there, we danced at tannebeers, at soiree Senegalaises, concerts (Salam Diallo, Orchestre Ceddo), parties, celebrations, for two videos and on TV twice. Everywhere they go, Goorgoorlu bring an infectious energy of festivity and joy. They can walk into a gathering and it becomes and instant party!

Singing and dancing for a 5-year-old relative’s birthday.
Another typical, spontaneous, Senegalese corridor party!

Bamba Gueye – sweaty, singing, celebratory

Fallou Ndiaye - sweaty, singing, hilarious, getting his point across

It was so generous of them to include me in everything. I became the big surprise they’d pull out at these events. I’d stand on the sidelines, like any normal toubab guest, but then would suddenly bounce into view dancing sabar … and well??? Over and over again, everyone would erupt with laughter and delight. It was soooo fun!

The only thing that got me down was how little the dancers are paid for all of their hard work and effort. As stars over there (every time you turned on the TV, they were dancing in someone’s video) Goorgoorlu somehow manage always to dress well and play the part, but there is so much competition for work, people often felt at liberty to pay them little or not at all. Given their reputations, they DO get jobs that pay well, but it blew my mind how often I saw them paid the equivalent of $12 to be divided by two … after days of rehearsals, taxi rides, hot days, hours and hours of dancing, singing, or waiting around.

Bamba Gueye, Djilly Mbaye, and Fallou Ndiaye,
standing around, looking groovy, and waiting at at TV shoot

Staying cool inside a taxi, looking less groovy, ... also waiting

The biggest event we did was for Senegal’s Walf TV. Walf TV was hosting an mbalax special featuring the rising tassou / mbalax stars of the day. Many top dancers in Senegal reach a point where they are so familiar to the public through dancing in other people’s videos, they become tassou artists themselves. Tassou is a little like rap, but over mbalax beats, rather than hip hop beats. That day, they interviewed Pape Ndiaye Thiopet, Ndjole, Goorgoorlu, and three other tassou artists I didn’t know.

All dressed up and ready to go to Walf TV for Goorgoorlu’s appearance

Goorgoorlu took their places and made sure I was sitting in the front row of the studio audience. I spent the next four hours of filming aware that the cameras were catching audience expressions. Despite not understanding the Wolof, I would laugh when everyone laughed or look intensely focused when everyone was debating some deep point. LOL!

Eventually, each artist got to perform a playback of two songs. Goorgoorlu was up near the end and launched into a full blown dance up of their single “Chiantgi.” Halfway through the song, Bamba motioned for me to join them so I bounced out of my seat and improvised behind them. At a crucial bakk (phrase of drum music) at the song’s climax, they turned to me, like, “Take this one” and I did a hilarious and crisp set of steps and aced it. Everyone cracked up.

Sitting down all sweaty in the sweltering studio, I composed myself, only to have Ndjole call me up to dance for her song too. No prob! She also sang a traditional song that evolved into a mini-studio-tannebeer and I did a nice solo, complete with hat falling off and red hair everywhere. HAHAHAAA! By this time, everyone was looking at me, like, “Who on earth are YOU?” One of the presenters said, “Pass her a microphone!” and asked me, “Well, what’s YOUR story?”

What a window of opportunity!!!! I told them my name was Ashley, that I had met Goorgoorlu when Youssou Ndour invited me to dance at Bercy 2008, that I was grateful for their generosity and honored to be there, that mbalax was now international through the internet, that I am principally a singer, that I had just finished my 5th CD, partly recorded with five of the Super Etoiles at Jimi Mbaye’s house last September. “A singer?” they said, “Sing something!” So I sang a verse and chorus from Crown for Adorning and handed back the mic. Oh, that felt soo great!

They filmed four hours of footage that day, that would be whittled down to a 90 minute show. All week long, on the hour, Walf TV played a 30 second publicity spot, advertising the upcoming special … and about 12 of those 30 seconds was of me dancing! Everyone in the clubs kept telling me they’d seen it. Awesome!

Saturday night was my last night in Dakar. By this time, I had become friendly with the whole apartment building (everyone kept pulling me into their apartments to dance for every conceivable celebration) and when the program started, every time my image came on the screen, you could hear neighbors screaming, “Ash-LAY!!! Ashley WAYE!!!” Bamba and Fallou, who were so blasé about seeing themselves 10 million times on TV, suddenly got all nervous about seeing themselves TALKING on TV and wouldn’t watch it, but I took the whole thing in. They did an excellent job and I looked pretty damn good! WooohooooQ!

Afterwards, their phones were ringing non-stop with people congratulating them and asking them “Who IS she????”, so they said, “Look, pack your bags, put them in the back of our friend’s taxi, and let’s go out for one final dance, celebration on the way to the airport. Done. At 2:30, we arrived at a club Djilly had told us about (their first time too) and it was packed. Mbalax band playing, everyone dancing. But the minute we came in the door, to my UTTER surprise, the whole place started rhythmically chanting my name: “ASH-LAY! … ASH-LAAAAY!, ASH-LAY! …. ASH-LAAAY!” Total strangers came and picked me up off the ground, calling out my name and saying, “TOI, tu es la champione! Tu es la numero UN!!!!” The band joined in and the drummers came forward, clearing a space and insisting that I solo for them.

For the next two hours, Bamba, Fallou, Djilly, and I danced and celebrated and generally showed off! Oh, I was so high I cannot describe it. Talk about The Diva Has Landed! From there we drove to the airport (teary good-byes) where I checked in, waited, took a bus out to the plane, and walked forlornly up the stairs through the humid early morning hours. When I handed my boarding pass to the beautiful Senegalese stewardess, she said, “Hey! I saw you dancing on TV tonight! You dance so well!” WAAAAAAH !!!!

Counting the days to get back there…!

Me, painfully underdressed at a tannebeer.
Awa Cheikh, Kine, and Mame Doeur looking gloriously beautiful!

Dilly Mbaye, Mami, Bamba Gueye, Fallou Ndiaye, and Maman Mbaye
(Jimi Mbaye’s daughter and my dear friend.) Also gorgeous!

SUMMER TOUR '09 - PART 2 - Spain's FIMEC Festival

2009-08-16T22:57:00.000-07:00

Just returned to Los Angeles after six glorious weeks out in the world: touring, performing, singing, dancing! HEAVEN! THIS IS PART #2

LONDON REHEARSALS
After five shows in the UK, I rehearsed for two days in London with a new band. A Spanish world music festival called FIMEC had invited me to perform, but wasn’t paying enough to bring my American band with me, so I gathered musicians based in England and France who would then serve as a less-expensive option for future European dates. I had three Senegalese artists: Idy Diallo (bass / France), Diene Sagna (dance / Manchester), and Cheikh Diop (sabar drums / Bristol. And also Phil Stevenson (guitar), Nick Ramm (keyboards), and Luciano Ciccotelli (drums) all based in London.

Diene Sagna, Idy Diallo, Phil Stevenson, Chiekh Diop, Nick Ramm

Oh, the Gods really loved me … what a wonderful crop of musicians! Everyone turned up prepared and ready to work hard, no ego issues, good vibes, and a general sense of excitement to be on the gig. Rehearsals were fluid, fast, and productive. YES!!!!

SPAIN!
Two days later, we met at Heathrow and I handed the Iberia representative our passports. When she quickly checked everything and printed out our boarding passes, I got all teary. I told her, “You really did something special today in treating these Senegalese artists like normal travelers without examining their passports for 10 minutes or asking 100 suspicious questions. It’s always easy to notice when things go wrong, but I want to tell you we really appreciate that.” She got emotional too, smiled, and said, “We are all one people!”

It was a positive start to a wonderful four days. An awesome English guy with long dreads named Nick Whitfield drove us for two hours from Sevilla to the city of Chiclana in the South, with everyone festive and howling with laughter in the van. We were put up in a lovely hotel and had our meals in a beautiful Spanish restaurant where we could meet the other bands from Columbia, Cuba, Algeria, Senegal, Morocco and more.

I had met FIMEC’s organizer, Andrea Morpurgo, at WOMEX 2008. A super friendly Italian long living in Spain, Andrea ran his festival with precision and bacchanalian joyfulness. Somehow everything always felt relaxed, yet managed to run on time.

ANDREA MORPURGO

Our Friday afternoon sound check was a dream. Andrea’s very professional crew of had us sounding The Bomb in no time.

SOUNDCHECK

That evening, we were the headlining band (Spanish time, that meant coming on at 1am!) The prior acts were wonderful. singer Pura Fe sounded like a world / blues / Janis Joplin / Joni Mitchell, and Gema 4 were an wonderful a cappella group of Cuban women. Andrea, who loves jam sessions, had us all perform “You Got A Friend” together before my set. Oh our voices sounded so beautiful together!

WITH CUBAN A CAPELLA GROUP: GEMA 4

At 1am, the stage was ours at last and we rocked! SOOO great to have a chordless mic, excellent musicians, tons of space to move about, and the electric Diene Sagna dancing by my side. I apologized in Italian to the audience for not speaking Spanish and wondered how they would respond to the music? Soon it was clear that they were really into it. A big pile of kids down front danced and danced (they were up onstage with me by the end), and the crowd had every generation represented. We were the evening’s only act to receive an encore!! We played a track from my new CD called “Amazing Grace” and I sang the whole song as a call and response piece. Standing there with thousands of Spaniards singing along under the stars at 2am on a warm summer evening, I thought, “This is why I am here! To do this for the rest of my life … to sing, dance, share this music, and help create a joyful / uplifting / beautiful atmosphere. What a feeling!

HEAVEN!

DANCING WITH DIENE

BOWING AFTER OUR ENCORE

The next morning we had a day to stroll around lovely Chiclana, nap, drink too much café con leche, and attend an afternoon djembe drum & dance workshop headed by another long dreadlocked Brazilian guy named Malaga … who had lived in Senegal for 13 years, played super well, and spoke fluent Wolof. (Oh, I SO want to be able to speak Wolof … I just gazed at him in admiration!)

Malaga’s group, Borom Tamba, featured a heady list of first class drummers and dancers direct from Senegal. Some of the great Pape Moussa’s brothers were dancing and, to my total delight / surprise, they said, “We know you! You dance really well!” before I even danced a step for them! Wooohooo! Diene, Cheikh, Idy, and I were in heaven!

WITH DJIBY MBAYE, DIENE, MARIA, AND CHEIKH

Borom Tamba’s show was HOT! Their dununba alone was ferocious!! Again, this was followed by an Andrea-inspired jam session, featuring singers and musicians from the other Saturday night bands: Abdeljalil Kodssi (Morocco), Piccola Banda Ikona (Italy), Buritaca (Colombia). So fun! We hit an excellent improvised groove .. international all the way!

Another late long laughing walk back to the hotel, an early van ride back to Seville the next morning, where we split onto different flights back to Heathrow. Diene, Phil, and I were the last to leave and enjoyed a last dance in the airport before getting on the plane. Truly a magic weekend.

DANCING WITH DIENE AT THE AIRPORT

SUMMER TOUR '09 - PART 1: THE U.K.

2009-08-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

Just returned to Los Angeles after six glorious weeks out in the world: touring, performing, singing, dancing! HEAVEN!

OXFORD: TY UNWIN’S HOUSECONCERT
Everything started at Ty Unwin’s wonderful houseconcert in Oxford, England. Ty composes music for British TV and invited me to share an evening with singer-songwriter Ben Parker. Very festive atmosphere, with fans mixed in with people who trusted Ty’s (excellent) taste. : ) !!! After Ben’s sparkling and very funny set, I sang while Phil Stevenson accompanied me on guitar to a garden-full of people sitting / lying / sprawled on the grass at sunset. Ben noted dryly that it was the first time he had performed beside a garden shed!

Phil Stevenson and I looking very groovy in front of Ty Unwin's garden shed

Recording artist Howard Jones was in the audience: so positive and Present (Buddhist), and incredibly charming. He played us some wonderful tracks from his new CD before casually sitting down and singing, accompanying himself on dizzingly excellent piano. He blew everyone away. Houseconcerts are The Bomb!

Me and Tea in Deep Conversation with Howard Jones. I swear, that's the back of his head!

Between Ty Unwin (next to me on my right) and Ben Parker (in hat on my left)

Darren Young (who took the above photos) and his dear "better half," Kevin, drove all the way from Newcastle to catch this gig! I am so blessed to have such Fan Friends!

Spent a couple of days bouncing around London. (I lived there for 12 years and it’s one of my favorite cities.) I caught up with friends, sat in my fave cafes, and walked and walked and walked! Then Phil Stevenson and I flew up to Scotland.

EDINBURGH: THE BONGO CLUB
Like last time, Morag ONeill arranged the shows, and we stayed with her mad, merry, photographer friend, Marc Marnie and his lovely wife, Janet. They have a rambling, funky, converted, rabbit-warren-of-a house, love to cook and converse, and Marc uncannily knows what you might hunger for (a hot cup of tea, an omelette, a chunk of good chocolate) just before you realize you want it. When I went to take a bath, he had already poured it ... enormous, piping hot, and surrounded by candles! YES!!

Janet and Marc Marnie with Phil Stevenson

That night, we opened for Senegalese artist / group Samba Sene and Diwan at The Bongo Club. Really great vibe, a good number of Scotland-based SeneGambians, and new DJ Souleymane Seck spinning top quality mbalax from 9pm until 4am.

Samba Sene, Khadim Thiam (keyboards), Jules Sow (guitar)

The dance floor was so spacious, the tunes so tasty, and everyone so happy and festive, I literally danced for the entire 7 hours …. with 45 minute break when someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Uh, Ashley? Can you go up there and do your set, please?” Highly unprofessional, but I couldn’t help it! There are NO mbalax clubs in Los Angeles, so I was blissed out beyond description.

Our set was well received, but the downer was that someone told me minutes before I went on that Michael Jackson had died. You could feel the news’ impact on the whole room … afterwards, it was as if we danced all night long in his memory. Samba’s band put on an excellent show that night, too.

GLASGOW: WEST
Arrived late (SO unlike me!) the next night at Glasgow’s WEST Brewery, due to slow cooking Senegalese food and slow-turning African time in Edinburgh. The restaurant’s well-soaked crowd was loud / having a ball and there was no PA to be seen (a miscommunication), so we had to hire a very expensive set of mics and amps at the last minute. Nonethess, we had a wonderful night. Once we got started, the music got through and I was sooo moved to see that Edinburgh’s Senegalese musician contingent (who had driven down to support us) get up to dance and sing “Lucky! Lucky! Lucky!,” I nearly burst into tears. That song is soooo for them!

LONDON: INN ON THE GREEN
The next day, flew home to London and was just leaving home for sound check at Inn on the Green, when a sudden heavy storm hit and the flat where I was staying in flooded … water POURING down the walls. I pounded on the door of the flat above, but the woman didn’t hear me for 10 minutes because the rain was so loud! When she finally let me in, I soon found myself with a bucket bailing out a huge deep blocked gutter on the roof, being pounded by rain and hail. What? We finally got the drain unplugged, but gallons and gallons of water still drained into the flat below. I threw towels everywhere, put cups and buckets beneath the dripping ceiling, and raced off to my gig. Surreal!

Because of the rain, many street and tube lines were closed, so the audience numbers were small. Carrie Slater and Chris Baker brought me take out Malasian food (bless them!) and some of my favorite friends and fans were there. Such a lovely night! Again, my Scottish-based Senegalese friends attended and the wonderful Jules Sow guested on guitar. Diene Sagna threw down some magic sabar moves and Phil Stevenson shone on guitar

FATOU GUEWEL AND SALAM DIALLO
The Senegalese hadn’t come all the way down to London just for me, though. That night, Youssou Ndour’s percussionist Mbaye Dieye Faye and singer Fatou Guewel were scheduled to perform in east London. After my show, I met with a plumber regarding the flooding, then set off on an epic 2 hour journey across London to catch the show. Arriving at 2:30 am, MDF was a no show, so it was Fatou Guewel and Salam Diallo. Salam spotted me as he came out of his dressing room and simply said, “Ash-LAY, kai fecc!” (Ashley, come dance!) before pulling me past security into the boiling festivities. Woohoo!!

The Irrespressible Salam Diallo in London in a gigantic boubou

It was an awesome night: mbalax till dawn, tons of friends, two entertaining sets, and Jules Sow dragged me up the stage during Salam’s show to do a sabar solo. Who was I to protest? : ) !!! Arrival time home? 6: 30 am

BRISTOL: ROY AND LINDSAY POPHAM’S HOUSECONCERT
After a couple hours of sleep, caught a 11am train to Bristol with Phil. Phil is an absolute DREAM guitarist and road companion: deeply musical, talented, sensitive, with a hilarious sense of humor, little ego, an even tempered, positive attitude, flexible, and the patience to put up with my unending stream of stories. I adore him!!

Roy Popham met us at the station, wearing a pink fedora. That should have given me an idea of the crowd we’d be playing for, but I couldn’t shake the image in my mind that a show at “Roy and Lindsay Popham’s for High Tea” would be a somewhat crusty British experience.

How wrong I was! Roy has long worked doing metalwork and set building for all kinds of events and his friends were “Intrepid Road Crew” material. One friend with tobacco stained fingers told me he had toured with the Grateful Dead for years. He and his teenage son both smoked spliffs in the kitchen. While Roy is a rollicking and colorful character, his wife Lindsay is warm and earthy. They were lovely hosts and their friends an intelligent, lively bunch of far-from-crusty characters. (NB: I have nothing against crusty, by the way. I love that type too!) We set up again in the garden and performed with Bristol’s Bay spread out before us. The Grateful Dead ex-employee came up me afterwards and said, “You’ve got major Californian balls, sitting down and singing like that!” Brilliant!

Phil, Lindsay, Me, Roy

Snoozed on the 9pm train back to London, but was hammered by texts from the Senegalese, begging us to come to Jules Sow’s house for a final gathering. Another night that ended at dawn, but this time I ended up face down on Jules’ couch, probably snoring and drooling!

Snoring and drooling on Jules Sow's couch at 4am

Will stop here! I LOVE ENGLAND!!!!

Yoro Ndiaye @ Just 4 You / Recording w/ Zale Seck in Montreal

2009-05-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

In November ’08, while in Dakar, Senegal to shoot a video for the first single off my upcoming fifth CD, I finally visited a club called Just 4 You. Everyone had told me about Just 4 You … the premier acoustic / jazz / mbalax live club in Dakar where everyone from Xalam to Cheikh Lo to Youssou Ndour himself had performed. It is open-aired … with about 40 tables spread out beneath lovely trellises woven with vines. The sound is impeccable, the stage neither too small or big, and the audience a friendly and unpretentious mix of mostly Senegalese with a dollop of foreigners who genuinely love Music.

With one of Senegal’s stars of acoustic mbalax, Yoro Ndiaye

Singer Yoro Ndiaye was on that night. I had met Yoro a year before when we both sang on a track by Djibril Ndiaye Rose in Dakar. Super friendly guy, awesome singer and guitarist, with a deservedly growing profile in Senegal and Europe. That evening, Yoro invited another incredible singer / guitarist named Zale Seck (former member of Orchestra Baobab and Les Etoiles 2000) up to guest before inviting me. I sang about Obama being freshly elected (in terrible French) and then, with Guitar God Jimi Mbaye now also onstage, danced before the audience with my Goorgoorlu dancer friends. That night, it felt like I had found my True Musical Home. Two months later, I was surprised to see this video appear on YouTube with excerpts from that night. Filmed by Diane Poitras, it made my day!

Missing from the video was Zale Seck’s impressive singing. We contacted one another when I returned to California and he returned to Montreal, Canada. Long story short, Zale invited me to spend last weekend in Montreal, recording harmonies for five songs on his new CD. What a wonderful weekend!! I spent two nights with ANOTHER excellent singer named Xosluman (Oumar Ndiaye) and his lovely Canadian wife, Marie Helene, met up with, yes, ANOTHER wonderful singer named Elage Mbaye (who I’d recorded with from afar, but had never met), and spent a magical afternoon at DJ / bassist / Senegalese Music Lover Badou Bousso's house.

with Xosluman (Oumar Ndiaye), Elage Mbaye, and Nathan Mbaye

At Badou’s we ate maffe, watched music videos, chatted, and he burned me a tall stack of brilliant vintage Senegalese CDs. Heaven! It was so thrilling to talk to him about the past, present, and future of Senegalese music. Badou’s knowledge of Who’s Who and Senegal’s musical history was as awesome as his enthusiasm for foreign artists who had successfully collaborated with African music. Everyone was super charming. After spending hours hanging out, Elage Mbaye mentioned to everyone that I was the toubab who danced sabar in videos on Seneweb.com and YouTube. To my surprise, every single Senegalese person there had seen and loved those videos. How cool is that ????!!!! I told them I would need an extra seat on the plane home for my expanded head!

Elage Mbaye, Badou Boussou, and Me with exploding hair

My final day, I took a bus out to Zale Seck and his wife, Helene’s beautiful house in the Canadian countryside. We rehearsed in the morning, I napped and took a gorgeous long walk in the afternoon, and then we drove to a lovely studio even FURTHER out in the countryside in the evening. Oh, the recording session was so much fun! Every song I sang on (mostly in Wolof) was sooooo beautiful … acoustic Senegalese folk mbalax at its finest. We worked really quickly and by 3am, I had laid down up to 6 tracks of harmonies per song. To my delight, Zale and his engineer were genuinely impressed with my studio prowess. The Global Diva has landed !!!

Recording with Zale Seck

With Zale and his wonderful engineer, Donald Fleurent

Finally arrived back in Montreal at 5am, grabbed my suitcase from Oumar’s, got to the airport, and begged the woman behind the Air Canada desk for a window seat. I must have looked as if bus had run me over, because she kindly gave me three free seats, across which I gratefully snoozed for most of the 6 hour flight back to LA.

Really looking forward to working with Zale Seck, Elage Mbaye, Oumar Ndiaye, and Zale’s brilliant guitarist son, Assane Seck, again soooooon! Senegal has SO MUCH TALENT!!!!!!!

East Coat/UK tour '08, WOMEX, Dakar Video Shoot

2008-11-28T13:46:00.000-08:00

Three weeks after returning from recording CD #5 in Dakar, I was off again! This time, I had shows in Boston, New York, Hampshire (UK), Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London, before heading on to the WOMEX world music conference in Seville, Spain, and finally, yes … lucky me!..... BACK to Dakar to film a video for my upcoming single.

BOSTON
Laura D’Onofrio, my east coast booking agent, booked me a show at Boston's The Beehive. After an overnight flight, my rehearsal with NYC guitarist Francis Jacob at Jeff Wasilko’s house was soooo sweet! After all the build up, stress, preparations, and flying, there was something so pure about those couple of hours. Jeff’s living room is all wood and cats and the acoustics were so lively, I could whisper and be heard. Francis played super tasteful guitar and we had a True Musical Conversation. Wonderful!

Ironically, The Beehive’s atmosphere was the exact opposite – loud, busy, bustling … but still fun. Having learned to flow with a venue’s energy, we played for the front row tables (full of friends) who could hear us, while providing background music for the loud restaurant tables beyond that inner circle. Everyone was happy!

Performing at the Beehive in Boston

Boston was hosting a sabar dance conference (heaven!) the weekend I was there, so Laura and I took great classes with Babacar Mbaye, Babacar Ndiaye, Mariama Basse, Marie Basse-Wlles, Ousmane Sall, and Malang Bayo. The East Coast teachers are amazing!

NEW YORK
Sunday, I enjoyed a gorgeous bus ride to New York and had a lovely show at Googie’s Lounge in the East Village. Walter played brilliantly and Afro-guitarist Raja Kassis joined us for the second half of the set, weaving his sparkling guitar lines masterfully throughout. Really fun!

Youssou Ndour’s long time manager, Thomas Rome, who had promised he would come from Connecticut to see the show, came skidding in through the doorway in time to catch the very last song. Later he told me he’d missed a train and was so mad at himself, he’d thrown a pen on the station platform. This cracked me up … a wild act of rage for a person as kind and gentle as he!

One day, when they film the biopic of my life, : ) … a pivotal scene will be of Thomas taking me out to dinner in Greenwich Village after my show. We found a place called The Pink Pony (?), and spoke at length about music, art, philosophy, and my fave subject (brainstorming about my rise to Global Diva-hood). Thomas is a visionary, plain and simple!

ENGLAND
Monday morning, caught a VERY early flight to London. I stayed with Emma and Giles O’Bryen at their big rambling Tufnell Park home, rehearsed with my UK guitarist, Phil Stevenson, took a walk on Hampstead Heath, and generally breathed in the Joy of being in my favorite city in the world.

Two days later, Phil and I put on a lunch-time concert for the students at South Downs College in Hampshire, on the invitation of Rachel Lovie; We had a hilarious lunch in the school café, which also serves as training college for waiters. They burned our sandwiches, took forever, and brought me a plate piled high with grated cheese when they misinterpreted my vegetarian order. The manager-in-training offered us stale profiteroles as an apology, which we accepted as graciously as we could without giggling. As for the show, to my delight, the students loved us! I got everyone up to sing solos on Frank and Loretta and they did some hilarious ad libs.

w/ Rachel Lovie, Phil Stevenson & stale profiteroles @ South Downs College, Hampshire

SCOTLAND
The next day, Phil and I took a train to Scotland, where we met up with booking agent, Morag Neil. She had arranged for us to perform alongside Samba Sene and his band including ex-musicians of Thione Seck, Medoune Ndiaye (tama / sabar) and Khadim Thiam (keyboards). For both our Edinburgh and Glasgow shows, Phil and I opened with an acoustic set, with Medoune and Khadim sitting in. Then when Samba performed, I danced for them, so we pooled our talents The Scots were so up for fun and enjoying themselves, brilliant!

with tama superstar Medoune Ndiaye

LONDON SHOW
Finally, we flew back to London for our return show at Inn on the Green. So great to see everyone! Chris Baker and Carrie Slater took me out for Thai food before the show (thank you!) and then the show was awesome. Tina and Dave were the perfect hosts, the audience was The Best, Senegalese guest drummers Ali Seck, Kao Seck, and Landing Mane guested, and I loved performing with Senegalese sabar dancer, Vieux Diene Sagne. He has such a radiant spirit and was an instant hit with the audience.

with Kao and Ali Seck, Landing Mane and Vieux Diene Sagna (in front)

Happiness

WOMEX ’08, SEVILLE, SPAIN
WOMEX ’08 was next! I shared a cheap pensione room with my mad Italian singer friend, Luisa Cottifogli, and we spent 5 days schmoozing madly at the conference, hearing excellent music, and hanging out with Thomas Rome and his wife, Florence. We saw local flamenco, tourist flamenco, ate waay too much cheese, drank too much coffee, walked happily ‘round Seville’s beautiful old town, and generally had an excellent time. Lots of leads to follow up on…

with the wonderful Florence Rome and visionary, Thomas Rome

DAKAR
Finally …. DAKAR! It’s difficult to describe what happens to my spirits the minute I arrive there … every molecule in my body lights up!. In the first few days, I tackled getting a video made for the song, “Try to Hide” from my upcoming CD #5. With the help of dancers Fallou Ndiaye and Bamba Gueye from the group Goorgoorlu, I found a director, rehearsed with F + B + three women, and searched for locations. The next day, director Niang first filmed us dancing in front of a green screen. Here’s me looking glamorous…

We then all piled into a Ndiaga Ndiaye bus to the Village des Artistes to film in front of some beautiful murals until the sun went down. The final shot was out by the highway, round an enormous sculpture of a tama player. A pile of kids appeared out of nowhere and ended up dancing in the video, as did a shoe seller, who jumped in front of the camera and let loose with some steps. It was a marvelous day and I am eternally grateful for all of the focus and joyful energy everyone contributed…

Fallou Ndiaye and Bamba Gueye dancing for the video @ Le Village Des Artistes, Dakar

I had thought that I would also do a second video for a song I had worked on with Djbril Ndiaye Rose, but our schedules didn’t allow that, so instead, I attended a dizzying array of soiree Senegalaises, clubs, concerts, tannebeers, and parties. Jimi Mbaye’s family shook their heads in disbelief as I would get up night after night at midnight to start dressing to leave. “Ashley (or ash - LAY),” they’d say, “You are so tired. You are not going out AGAIN?” But having missed music and dance during Ramadan, I had to grab my chance!

Without going into too much detail, all I can say is that Dakar blew my mind!. There is so much talent there…. dancers, musicians, drummers, artists of every description, it’s crazy. I spent much of the soiree Senegalaises watching with my jaw on the floor. The way the dancers can describe the tiniest of details inside the music, every bakk, every dynamic, is incredible Hanging out with Fallou and Bamba also gave me an insight into artists’ lives there, too. They face a staggering level of competition for a tiny amount of low-paying artistic gigs … it’s humbling.

One particularly wonderful night was at Just 4 You, an acoustic, open air venue with a big spread of tables, a respectful audience, and top quality musicians. Yoro Ndiaye did a lovely set, with guests like Zale Seck and Jimi Mbaye’s guesting. Yoro invited me up, where I sang about Obama winning and danced with Fallou Ndiaye and Modou Gabon in front of the stage, much to everyone’s surprise. That night I thought, “THIS is where I want to be … listening to this music, working with these musicians, collaborating RIGHT HERE.” When I move to Dakar (please, God!), I will LIVE at Just 4 You!

While in Senegal, I made some excellent connections, made new friends, and was eternally grateful for Jimi Mbaye’s family’s hospitality. His daughters, the gorgeous Maman and N’Deye Mbaye, were constant companions. Also Fallou Ndiaye was incredibly helpful and Bamba Gueye’s family was equally kind. I rehearsed, hung out, ate, and slept there and fell in love with Bamba’s whole family.

w/ brilliant producer, Ibou Ndour, at Jololi Studios in Dakar

Barack Obama!
Lastly, my sister emailed me on Wednesday morning to say that Barack Obama had been elected as our next president. Senegal was crazy happy with the news! It felt so great to be in Africa for this enormously positive step for the whole world. I cried with happiness all day long and took 10 Senegalese friends out, yes, to dance from midnight until morning. What wonderful news!

Senegal is amazing on every level. Although I am freshly back in LA, I am already wondering how I can return. Ii would love to learn Wolof, get to know my way around the city better, work more with musicians and dancers there, just generally dig in!

Watch this space! Peace and blessings to all of you who have read this far!!

Recording With Les Super Etoiles in Dakar, Senegal!

2008-09-29T16:39:00.001-07:00

Just returned from Dakar, Senegal, where I spent three amazing weeks recording key members of Youssou Ndour’s band, Les Super Etoiles, for my 5th CD!!

Arriving at Dakar airport at 5am, Jimi Mbaye (Youssou’s guitarist) came striding in to pick me up, greeting everyone as he came. He is such a star over there … people on the street flag down his car just to tell him how much they love him. Jimi’s house was my base for the next three weeks. Since everyone was fasting during the day for Ramadan, we worked mainly at night … from 11pm until morning. Jimi is a whiz in the studio, a magnet for musicians dropping in and, of course, an insanely wonderful guitarist! I loved how he would sit in the baking midnight heat, guitar in his lap, sipping caffeine-and-sugar-packed ataya tea, smoking, and listening to the material. He’d say, “I hate you … I love this song too much!” and then launch into yet another brilliant tracks’ worth of Only-Jimi-Mbaye-Could-Play-That! guitar.

One night of guitar from midnight till dawn, I was so tired, I was practically asleep on the studio’s slender couch. However, I wouldn’t go to bed … this was history in the making! So I just lay there, shouting out, “Oh my God, that is SO BEAUTIFUL!” or “Awesome!” or “Oh, I LOVE that!” as my eyes struggled to stay open. Jimi really gave His Best to the music, which meant so much to me…

With Sabar Legend, Thio Mbaye, and Guitar God, Jimi Mbaye!

In fact, every musician blew my mind. Many consider Thio Mbaye (sabar drums) to be Senegal’s best sabar drummer and he was pure fire, creativity, humor, and enthusiasm in the studio. Thio promised to throw a gigantic sabar for me when I return in November (there was no dancing, drumming, concerts, music, soirees, parties in Dakar during Ramadan, which was soooo hard!). Can’t wait! He’s incredible!

Thio Mbaye on fire in Studio Dogo

The night Assan Thiam played tama (talking drum), my eyes kept welling up with tears. Twenty years ago, I met Youssou and Les Super Etoiles for the first time in Paris, when they recorded The Lion. I remember finding Assan alone in the studio parking lot, listening to a song on headphones, in a trance, looking up at the stars, and practicing what he’d play on tama. Since then, I have seen him enter that ecstatic musical state onstage countless times … and now here he was with that familiar joyful look on his face, playing tama … for my very own CD! Waaw waaw!!!! A very warm, funny, radiant soul.

with Tama King Assan Thiam

Abdoulaye Lo (or Laye Lo) played drums for the more mbalax-y tunes and, like the others, nailed everything in one or two takes. Their facility to find that golden musical seam that weaves so perfectly into everyone else’s parts is thrilling to witness. Another very friendly and warm person.

with Youssou Ndour’s wonderful drummer, Abdoulaye Lo

Lastly, Youssou’s backing vocalist, Birame Dieng, came in the same night as Thio Mbaye’s second session and waited a loooong time to sing. I had invited him to guest on a song called “OK” which talks about a farmer who has malaria. As the sick farmer watches TV, he realizes that he doesn’t need America’s big cars, diamond rings, or movie stars. He just needs medicine. At 3am, Birame finally took the mic and sang both an opening vocal line and a free form vocal over the ending refrain. Making it up on the spot, it was perfect the first time!!! Everyone was thrilled. He has the effortlessly beautiful voice imaginable!

with Birame “Golden Voice” Dieng

When I wasn’t blissed-out beyond description in the studio, I hung out with Jimi’s beautiful daughters, Maman and Ndeye Mbaye, plus the Goorgoorlu dancers who I’d rehearsed with last April for Bercy ’08. Much of the day was spent napping, listening to music, and chatting lazily in The Heat.

I spent many sunsets on Bamba Gueye’s rooftop with Baye Fall friends of Goorgoorlu, who would sing songs of every description (praise / sacred / funny / colloquial), accompanying themselves with percussion and bongos (not a drum … more of a calabash + thumb piano combo). I have always found sunset to be a magical time of day, and when the sun sank into the sea and the muezzins passionately sang “Allaaaaah Akbar!” from their minarets, particularly with everyone fasting and praying for Ramadan, it was sooo spiritual and beautiful.

Fallou Ndiaye and Douda singing and playing bongos. Fallou is an incredible dancer!

Djily Mbaye and his bongo…. Djily is another amazing dancer!

With Fallou Ndiaye and Djily Mbaye of the dance group: Goorgoorlu

With Fallou Ndiaye and Bamba Gueye of Goorgoorlu. Bamba is one of the kindest, sweetest, funniest people I know. And another ridiculously great dancer!

While in Dakar, I also saw many friends…
Senegal’s radiant dance star, Ndeye Gueye. We danced together at Bercy ’08.

With another Sabar Drum Master, Djibril Ndiaye Rose, and his lovely wife, Fily

Despite the heat and Ramadan, I also danced at home with Maman and Ndeye Mbaye, plus their 6-year-old niece, Ami Colle Seck, who was a blazingly talented young dancer. I called her “My Dance Professor!” Maman caught us dancing in a corridor one night:

Dancing with 7-year-old Fierce Sabar Mini Queen, Ami Colle Seck

Ran Taik! Ran Taik! Ran Taik! (a popular dance step)

For any of you who have not been to Africa, GO!!!! It is such a wonderful magical rich deep amazing place. Yes, Africa has her troubles, but there is definitely Something there that needs to be experienced directly … something of The Spirit, of Life, and Joy that we in the West hunger for.

When I disembarked from the plane in Washington, Dulles, on the way home to L.A., that’s exactly how it felt … Dull. Clean? yes. Organized? yes. On time and efficient and modern and sleek and convenient? yes! But gone was that Vibe, and Energy that I love so much in Senegal. I am very very very very lucky and blessed and grateful to have been able to work there with my musical heroes. It is the beginning of a whole new wonderful chapter and I Give Thanks and Praise! Love and blessings to all, Ashley

Singing On Cheikh Ndoye's Debut CD

2008-07-14T15:08:00.001-07:00

Just returned from a wonderful weekend in Washington D.C., where I sang on three tracks for Senegalese jazz bassist Cheikh Ndoye's debut CD. Cheikh is super talented and a lovely person. He's confident and open minded, kind hearted and humble, full of ideas and enthusiasm for the future, with his musical roots firmly in Senegal. Yes! There are so many brilliant Senegalese musicians out there, it's wonderful to see a gifted young artist like Cheikh getting the support he needs to develop and grow.

Cheikh's producers Kevin Peter Jones and Romero Wyatt were equally charming and kind ... and the music is Niiiiiiice!! Debut records have a special energy because an artist has such an open canvas to try everything. Cheikh's bass lines are earthy and sinuous, rhythmically creative and yet spacious ... leaving lots of room for the heavy weight jazz musicians he's invited to fly above. Russell Ferrante and Karen Briggs both sound awesome on the record.

I arrived with my parts worked out in advance via from bouncing files back and forth between LA and Washington. (Thank God for Garageband!) Being behind a microphone in the studio or onstage always makes me soooo happy. My session was pretty quick on Sunday morning. Before I knew it, I was back on the plane home, with happy memories of excellent food, good conversation, wonderful people, ... and the thrill I felt at the Mall in Washington D.C. envisioning Barack and Michelle Obama living in the White House down at the end. GO OBAMA!!! GO CHEIKH!!!

Cheikh Ndoye, Yours Truly, and Zen Drum World Rhythm Master - Romero Wyatt

YOUSSOU N'DOUR FLIES ASHLEY TO DAKAR TO PERFORM!!

2008-04-21T22:54:00.001-07:00

Last month, Youssou Ndour flew me to Dakar and rehearse (as a dancer) with his 7 Senegalese dancers (Aziz Faye, Djilly MBaye, Bamba Gueye, Fallou Ndiaye, Penda Keita, Ndeye Gueye, Aida Dada). What a thrill and an honor!! I then performed with them at the sold out Sorano Theater in Dakar before flying to Paris to perform in front of 20,000 people at Bercy. It all happened really fast ... my flight confirmation came in two days before I departed!

I had an amazing / crazy / extraordinary / brilliant time. After rehearsal 1, the dancers all said I had totally surprised them with my level of dancing. Lots of high fives and hugs and "Wow, I'm shocked!" I was in! Every day for two weeks, we met at Youssou's club, Thiossane, and practiced on the ball room floor with no mirrors. I loved how the dancers would casually get up and throw themselves 150% into a full-blown run-through of a song, then sit down for 25 minutes ... many smoking cigarettes, drinking cafe touba, and chatting. Then another blast of activity followed by more hanging around. Unfortunately, I lost my camera over there, which is a bummer, because I had some great photos of everyone...

Most days, I hung out at Aziz Faye's family's house ... the sweetest family you could imagine. Everyone so kind and warm .. and all superb dancers and drummers!

The Sorano show was amazing. It was sold out with a ton of people outside on the street. We got there early enough to spend a lot of time sitting around and then suddenly there was a rush of activity. Youssou and the band had arrived from touring in Europe (we'd not had a chance to rehearse together) and literally walked in, onstage, and started playing. Backstage, we were confused. Was there a set list? They ended up not playing four of the songs we'd rehearsed and many of our dances onstage were improvised, but the VIBE in the room was electric and SO MUCH FUN!!!

At one point, Ndeye Gueye (a big dance queen in Senegal) pulled me onstage for an impromptu duet.

The other time was when Youssou called Aziz Faye's name from the stage and Aziz pushed me to run behind the stage and enter from the other side, saying "Go! Go! Go!" The result was a 2 minute improv that ended up on video. It's been seen so far by 37,000 people on Seneweb.com! Here's the video!

and a photo...!

After the show, I went out dancing with the three brilliant dancers from Goorgoorlu (who also dance for Youssou).

We were all still so high from the show! However, at about 2AM, they broke the news to us that the four male dancers had been denied visas to France. This meant that all of our beautiful choreography was chucked out the window, we were all devastated, and the four women dancers (me included) had to fly to Paris to do an improvisational show ON OUR OWN with pick up dancers from Paris.

While the resulting show was awesome, it COULD have been blow-the-roof-off incredible. I was onstage twice with groups of dancers and they chose me to go out and dance another song all by myself. What a feeling!! I burst into ecstatic tears over and over that night ... God, here I was was dancing at flippin' BERCY with my all time musical hero!!!!!! During my solo turn, a group of white dancers from Holland, Finland, and Paris came up onstage behind me and we did a hilarious series of leumble moves, egged on by Mbaye Dieye Faye. Sophie Schowenaar, another sabar toubab queen, was the first up and she rocked!!! It was brilliant!

Afterwards, on the way back to the hotel, tons of Senegalese stopped me and said, "Wow!!!! Who are you? You danced so well! OMG, that was incredible!" Lots of photos and signatures and smiles. That felt soooo good!

Saturday night, there were packed after parties in Paris and the hotel was crammed with elegantly dressed Senegalese members of Youssou's entourage. Peter Gabriel turned up at the hotel on Sunday and Youssou gave an impromptu speech about Peter to the press. Very lovely and moving.

Flew home Monday morning. Tuesday, I was up cleaning, shopping, cooking. As Jack Kornfield would say, "After the Ecstasy, The Laundry!"

UCLA SHOW w/ RY COODER, BEN HARPER, LAURA LOVE, TAJ MAHAL

2008-04-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

Our Royce Hall show at UCLA (part of The Ash Grove's 50th Anniversary) last Friday night was AWESOME from top to bottom. Ry Cooder's set was well-received. Ben Harper was transcendent, Taj Mahal charmed everyone and guested on Ben Harper's set, Laura Love was earthy and great, Holly Near's vocals / harmonies were beautiful, people loved Dr. Demento's stories. Everyone backstage was so warm and friendly, the whole evening had a great vibe.

When we came on between Holly and Ben, most of the audience had no clue who I was, but we really triumphed. When the four drummers came on and we blew the roof off along with the dancing, my dancer Kara described the look on their faces as "Shock and Awe." You could see them loving it, but trying to figure out just what was happening? Some asked me later if sabar dancing was a kind of African martial art form like capoeira? Loved that!

Later, outside in the lobby, I was moved by how all these baby boomers just loved our set .... some literally had tears in their eyes saying how this was the new generation a world really coming together... and what a beautiful thing. They were struck by my voice, the songs, the musicians, the dancing, the drumming, and the crazy, how-can-it-be? authenticity of it all. (That word came up over and over.) One guy pulled me over to the wall by the elbow with a stern look on his face and said, "OK, break this down for me ... What has been the trajectory of your career? WHY are you not massively famous? Your voice, the songs, the dancing, you are incredible!!!" Yes!

WITH MAMADOU BADJI

KARA MACK IS THE BOMB!

LEUMBLE LEUMBLE LEUMBLE...

THE MAGNIFICENT MAGATTE SOW

Farmers' Market Show

2008-01-07T23:05:00.001-08:00

Performing at The Santa Monica Farmers Market is always colorful. Over the years since returning to Los Angeles, I have appeared there with various line-ups and every show has a different vibe. Recently, I invited three musicians and dancer Kara Mack (who just had a baby) to put on a show and it was so fun!

That Sunday was a gorgeous bright winter day. We set up on time, and the ever-changing audience got really into the music! I wanted to focus on two things: groove and improvisation. As an outdoor gig, how could we make every groove really pop? Also, because it was a loose Sunday morning with everyone eating breakfast and hanging out with their kids, how could our show be equally loose and carefree? We created a sunny and bubbling African / world soundtrack for everyone buying their organic fruit and vegetables … Honeycomb Grey became a samba. Ogoniland was a groooooooove!!

Federico Ramos (guitar) and Dante Pascuzzo (bass) put in some heavenly solo-ing, Magatte Sow (tama) blew everyone away, and Kara and I danced up a storm. It felt good to wrap a skirt around my pants and just go … no frantic Diana Ross-ian costume change scrambling backstage, for once!

We got the sea of little toddlers down front dancing in a circle at the end of Babalu to the drums and everyone getting up to sing solos for Frank and Loretta. Mostly, the little kids sang "FRANK AND LORETTA!" followed by 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 worth of silence and heavy breathing into the mic. The crowd LOVED it!!!

The crowning moment, though, was getting Kara up to sing at the end. Check the video at the bottom of this blog for kid solos and Kara. She is a classic!!!!

Also, many thanks to Lynette "Waaw Waaw" Wich for filming parts of our show. The still photos in this blog are from her footage!

Dancing at Youssou N'Dour's show @ UCLA

2007-12-21T22:51:00.000-08:00

Three weeks after I got back from my Magnificent Month Away, Youssou N'Dour came to TOWN!!!! His show at UCLA was breathtaking and his musicians were in steaming form. Every one of Royce Hall's 2000 seats was sold out, but I could barely sit still through the first three songs ... were we really going to sit through two hours of Youssou N'Dour and Les Super Etoiles de Dakar?!!!

Finally, he said "You know, you are all welcome to dance" and I flew out of my seat as if The Spirit had called me. No lie, I felt like I wasn't in charge at all. Running down to the front all alone, where the aisle met the stage, I did a full blown niari gorong solo to the song they were doing. With that, the entire room jumped to its feet and started dancing.

I danced down front the entire night in a state of utter ecstasy. Youssou's music has been my life's soundtrack for so many years and I am a shameless fan! When Youssou was recording The Lion in Paris, my then manager (who also managed Peter Gabriel) flew me there from London to meet the whole band. Over the years, I saw Youssou backstage at his shows in New York, Los Angeles, and London, ate dinner together with him and Peter at Real World the night they recorded Shaking the Tree (Rossana cooked spaghetti!), and even said, "Hello!" at Dakar's Xippi studios when I visited Africa with my husband.

At UCLA, Youssou thanked me during the show for co-writing Boul Bayekou, and I went onstage to do a solo for one of the happiest moments of my LIFE! (Here's the YouTube clip ... I love how Youssou says, "Ash-ley!" at the very end!):
Ashley Solo @ Youssou's show ... and a photo, too!

Afterwards, Habib Faye came out into the lobby looking for me!! (We worked together in the studio for three weeks for the English National Opera years ago...his musicality blew my mind and he made me laugh and laugh, he was sooo funny!) Habib said, "WOW! I knew you could sing and write, but I didn't know you could DANCE like that!" Backstage, the band said the same, Jimi Mbaye told them how he'd seen me in Dakar two weeks previously, and Youssou hugged me and said, "Let's stay in touch!" HEAVEN!

HABIB FAYE & YOURS TRULY
Finally, a Senegalese friend in Montreal attended their tour's final show and emailed me this:
Hi Ashley,

The video is amazing...U R THA BEST....the boys of Super Etoile have a lot of respect for your work and talent. After the show, I had a conversation with Youssou and Habib about your performance in L.A....after years performing live, Habib said that he never saw a TOUBAB with such good understanding of sabar, Youssou added that it's a gift from God...literally in Wolof ( Yalla daf ko maï ). That email made my day!!!

I posted the video on YouTube (500 views and counting) and it got picked up by Seneweb.com (15,000 views and counting). Three weeks later, I'm still trying to come down to earth…then again, do I really want to?! I am soooo blessed!!!!!

Sabar Solo in Pikine, Dakar, Senegal

2007-11-16T16:03:00.001-08:00

While I was in Senegal, I solo-ed during three sabar parties and danced at concerts and clubs, but my all time BIG MOMENT was at a sabar in Pikine. My young male friends had taken me to a huge soccer match at the stadium the day before to see their team from Pikine play in the championship. Pikine is a poor area of Dakar, so it was a big deal that their team had made it so far. We stood in the drum section where they played their behinds off and lead the crowd behind us in soccer anthems. When their team won 5 – 0, the whole crowd, dressed in their team's green and yellow, just went crazy.

Two days later, they took me to a big sabar party to celebrate their team's victory. Since we got there relatively early, I got to watch the whole evening unfold, from putting up the stage to setting up the sound sytem. For the first 90 minutes, a sea of children danced to a string of Senegalese pop hits, which was wonderful to watch. They already had the dances DOWN!

Most sabars are family / neighborhood affairs with about 60 people in attendance, but this one was massive. They'd cordoned off an entire block and both sidewalks were thick with onlookers. When the sabar drumming got started, my friend Abdullai, said, "You're going to dance, right?" Looking around at the thousands of people, I thought, "Me? Dance? Here? NOW?" When I told him I hadn't brought a lappa (skirt) to wear, he promptly brought his aunt over with a skirt which she wrapped around my waist.

The drumming was really firey now and my heart was pounding, but I just jumped out into the open space. The minute I appeared, the crowd started screaming (there was not a single other white person there). I ran down to the drummers and did a blazing solo, powered by joy and adrenaline, before running back into the crowd. However, the minute I'd finished, it was pandemonium. The drummers left their drums and were pumping their fists in the air, the space in the middle collapsed and people were shrieking. Abdullai found me and grabbed me by the wrist, saying, "The people up at the other end want to see you! They couldn't see you because you were down by the drummers! Come with me!"

(This sabar in Pikine was 2 nights later and small by comparison!)

When the crowd reformed and the drummers took their places again, Abdullai dragged me out to the middle of the block, where I took a stand with my legs wide apart, just bouncing on my toes like a boxer. The crowd screamed again, as this is a classic Senegalese sabar posture … just taking my time and letting the anticipation build. A woman from the mobile company called Orange came over and ceremoniously crowned me by putting a big promo T-shirt with Orange on it over my head. The drummers were waving the dancers out of the way as if to say, "Move! We want to drum for the Toubab!"

I did a huge move as if to start something big, but just stopped. More screaming. Then did small funny step on my toes, which everyone loved, before launching into solo 2. During my solo, the lead drummer left his drum and came running up the block toward me. When he reached me, I did a big kick to the left and then right move before doing a classic chebu djen back that everyone knew. It ended with both of our hips meeting in the middle … as Fatou NDiaye would say, a combo of sex and comedy … and the crowd went completely wild.

When the sabar section ended, I spent the balance of the evening dancing with everyone, kids, old ladies, young men, everyone. I didn't sleep that night, just reliving how amazing it had all been. But one thing I remembered really clearly was how I felt in that moment of waiting on my toes to do solo 2. Everything was in slow motion and I thought, "Wow, for 10 years, I have dreamed of this moment … that one day I would be in Senegal at a sabar and I'd do a great solo." It was a palpable feeling of manifestation … that such dreams really do come true … and made me feel like I can do anything!

Dakar, Senegaaaal!!!!

2007-11-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

I flew from Seville to Madrid, then got a connecting flight to Dakar. Already in the waiting hall, it was so great to see all the Senegalese. I wondered what business they were doing in Spain? After looking down at Dakar's star shape from the sky, we landed at 11pm. Once through customs, a friend's husband met me, took my bags, and navigated our way through the churning mass of people offering to change money, drive us, or sell us something.

For two weeks, I stayed with a family in Thiaroye Sur Mer. That way, not only would I have chaperones and home cooked food, but their home was relatively close to Djibril NDiaye Rose's house, who I was scheduled to collaborate with.

The family was lovely. The mother lived in a home on the beach where we'd convene to eat lunch (usually chebu djen) and dinner (often very late). I had my own room in a big clean house five minutes away with three of her 5 sons … all of them drummers. They soon became my friends and allies, taking me out to all kinds of events in exchange for me paying for taxis and tickets.

Working with Djibril NDiaye Rose was a pure pleasure. A very gifted, organized, professional, kind, merry, hospitable person, he lives in a house near the beach with his beautiful wife and 6 gorgeous children. The first day we met, his six drummers launched with total gusto into the piece that they'd created to collaborate with me. Sitting there, with this incredible music going right into every pore, I almost started crying, it was so beautiful. I took the music home that night and wrote two verses and a chorus over my section the next morning at dawn, being careful to make sure that the melody wove intricately into the drum parts and was in dialogue with the beautiful tama melody.

The next day, I was delighted to find that they loved what I had written. Djibril then announced that their dancer, Mame Cheikh, would teach me the nyare goron choreography for the video and I could feel the drummers trying not to roll their eyes. His wife and a friend also watched by the sidelines. Very satisfying to see their surprise when I nailed the steps really quickly!!

Over and over again, I found that my ability to dance became an instant way to connect with people there. Clusters of children would gather 'round me, showing me steps and shrieking with delight when I could accurately imitate their moves. In the clubs, I soon had countless tutorials from seasoned dancers surprised to see I had a good repertoire of steps and feel for the rhythms. At people's homes, without speaking Wolof, my dancing would always make people smile and laugh. My big moment came during a sabar solo at a sabar in Pikine, but will write about that in a separate blog!

The other highlights while I was there were recording the single with Djibril and his drummers (steaming hot studio, but such fun!), making the video (SO much laughter!), seeing performances by DouDou NDiaye Rose, Coumba Gawlo, and Viviane, going to two other excellent sabar parties (drummer Pape Seck BLEW MY MIND, his drummers were so awesome), going to a soiree Senegalese, and tracking down my husband's uncle-in-law in central Dakar.

I really had an incredible couple of weeks and got an unnatural amount accomplished. Despite Dakar's heat, terrible air, mosquitos, and relentless filth, the Senegalese are staggeringly beautiful, peaceful, spiritual, and full of life and joy. Every bus and taxi is covered with spiritual sayings and plastered with pictures of their spiritual leaders. Every greeting seems to include the word Peace. On the way to the airport, when our taxi scraped the side of another car, all the men calmly got out of the two cars, greeted one another, and shook hands before discussing the accident. Then shook hands again, got into their cars and drove off.

The flights home totaled 36 hours of traveling, getting on and off planes and going through customs, but it was worth it. Arriving home, it was brilliant to see my husband and kids, who I'd missed loads. Felt great to have a very long and very hot bath. It took me two days to clean the house and two solid hours of combing our daughter's hair to pull it back from the brink of dread-lock-hood! Now trying to catch up. I had 750 new emails waiting for me ... aaaaah!

I hope I get to go back … soon!!!

WOMEX '07

2007-11-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

The WOMEX conference in Seville, Spain is an annual four day convention where world music artists and industry types meet, mix, and network. There are showcases and workshops and booths. For ages, I had heard about WOMEX, so this year I just went for it (see story below) and it was truly amazing.

First off, I met a handful of WOMEX attendees on the plane from London to Seville. Lots of jolly introductions and energy. Once there, we all disappeared into taxis to our respective hotels. I shared a room with Luisa Cottifogli, a brilliant Italian singer who was one of my best friends while studying opera in Italy 23 years ago, and we had a super merry reunion. Her sense of humor was identical to mine, so we literally laughed for four solid days. In between our hysterics, I made about 100 great new contacts, saw scores of brilliant concerts, wandered around Seville (so beautiful!) and wondered if the Spanish knew anything about vegetables? Their diet seems to consist mainly of ham, bread, mayonnaise, wine, potatoes, and meat.

Of the showcases, I loved Balkan Beat Box, the Finnish foursome playing harmonica, and Vieux Farka Toure (again), missed Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 (just too tired), loved the mix of flamenco and qwwaali singing, and Julie Fowlis was lovely. Sitting or standing in the audience, I could see myself up there at the big Pavilion with a huge band including Senegalese dancers and drummers or at the Teatro Lope de Vega with a more intimate show. Just have to figure out HOW!

Made some wonderful contacts and friends at the convention, on the bus TO the convention, at the parties AFTER the convention. Plus, I ended up meeting people from LA who I'd not yet had a chance to know! Very inspiring to see everyone so devoted to world music (a term many of them can't stand, but will use it for now!). Andy Palacio's last concert was excellent and the speeches that both he and his producer delivered were so inspiring, I got very misty eyed. Can't wait to return next year!!

The London show was AMAZING!!

2007-10-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

Last night, the show at Inn on the Green was absolutely Magic with a capital M. Tina and Dave's club is tucked under the flyover near Ladbroke Grove, with a local West Indian and West London crowd mixing at the bar. Many had gathered to watch England compete in the rugby finals.

Before the show started, I greeted loads of old friends and many new fans ... some who had driven from as far as Wales to see me!! So great to meet all these people I had met via the internet and their CD orders in person at last!

The show itself was wonderful: great sound, lovely atmosphere, full house, low tables twinkling with candle light. Phil Stevenson played guitar and my friend Barak Schmool played percussion as I sang, danced, and told funny stories. My backing vocalists from 10 years ago, Pauline Madden and Suzanne Wooder, guested on Honeycomb Grey and Crown for Adorning and Florence Headlam busted some West African dance moves after And I Believe.

What characterized this particular show was the depth of the feeeeeling in the room. The evening's energy (much like Boston and New York) felt like everyone making a fire together; myself, the musicians, AND the audience ... not just me performing for a passive group of people. I felt so supported and present, my voice was in top form, every song told it's own story, and there was room for audience members to speak up, join in, contribute. It was a reunion, a celebration, a show, a Conversation. Amazing!

Afterwards, I sold loads of CDs and sold out for my T-shirts. Door and merchandise sales together almost covered the total cost of my flights for this whole month's-worth of flying from LA to Boston, New York to London to Spain to Senegal to home! How brilliant is that?!!

I stayed on and signed CDs and posters, chatted to/caught up with everyone, and considered the logistics of coming over to do more. Phil, Barak, and I were a wonderful combination. Like Francis, Phil mastered the music beautifully, and Barak's grooves were tasteful and subtle.

Got home after midnight and couldn't sleep, I was so happy. I just lay in bed, reliving all those wonderful moments. It's a sign that I am on the Right Path for sure.

Boston and New York shows

2007-10-21T12:11:00.001-07:00

On the plane to Boston, I "pushed the recline button down" like Joni says, and felt a wash of the purest joy come over me. Everything was in place .. left the fridge full, the kids well-cared-for, the house neat and tidy, the toilets and mirrors sparkling, and here I was, on my own and setting off for a full month of music and travel and catching up with old friends for the first time since having Sundiata 16 years ago. I've had short breaks before, to deal with our flat in London, to dash out for a weekend set of gigs or a music conference, but this is a BIG ONE!

To my great delight, I had a window seat, an empty seat beside me, and the woman next to the aisle clearly indicated from her body language that she wanted to play with her palm pilot video game and NOT talk. HEAVEN!!!!!!!! I didn't watch the movie or read the in flight magazines. I just sat there for 6 hours, blissed out of my mind in a state of silence and dreaming.

Friends in Boston picked me up, put me up, showed me 'round, made me delicious Italian coffee, and were generous with their time. Laura D took me to take a brilliant sabar drumming class with Lamine Toure (amazing musician and definitely the New Generation of mbalax musicians) before she and I shared a coffee and a hour of chatting about life and sabar sabar sabar!!

Saturday night, Jeff W took me out to Northampton to see the Neilds. Wonderful show, beautiful homegrown feel ... two singing sisters with such insightful and deep songs, bookended by hilarious stories and segues. Boston is a haven for folk music and singer-songwriters. The venue, The Iron Horse, was four times the size of any folk music club you'd find in Los Angeles and packed to the rafters.

Sunday, we picked up NYC-based guitarist Francis Jacob from the bus terminal and came home to rehearse. Gretchen Parlato had recommended him and he was PERFECT! Very bright, talented, sensitive, open, cheery, delightful mustachioed Swiss/French guy. Back at my Italian friends' house to rehearse, he nailed song after song on the first go through. Oh the joy to work with musicians who "get" the music like that. He was a gift from the gods!!!

The show at Lily Pad was wonderful. Nicely attended, intimate, and magical. Chiara had made Francis and I strong coffees just before the show, so we galloped through the first couple of songs, but then we found our groove and had a ball. Balla Tounkara came up afterwards and was really strong. Excellent voice and master kora player. At the end of his set, he called me up, so I sang about my sister-in-law driving me around Bouke, Cote d'Ivoire, to see various ceremonies with their dancing and singing while he played kora. Beautiful.

Monday, Jeff drove me down to New Haven in his bright yellow audi, DJ-ing all the way. My favorite was Lily Allen, so wry and smart. I love how she sings with a strong London accent. Her chorus from "Smile" has stayed with me ever since!!!

In New Haven, Jeff called Meredith T to say we were almost there on speaker phone. Her first response was "FUCK!!" which made me burst out laughing. She was behind and hadn't yet had a shower yet, so we got her a Starbuck's ice tea to buy her some extra time. I adore Meredith. I'd do anything to have someone like her help me out on the business front. She is so on-the-ball, organized, forward looking, funny, flexible, and smart. And you can tell she's a road soldier. When my throat started giving out from two days of chatting, rehearsing, and singing, I reclined back and napped while she turned on the radio and drove and drove. She drove me to New York and told me colorful tales of working with Rachael Sage.

The show at Googie's was sooooooooooo great! Upstairs, nice room, it was standing room only! A ton of friends came out to support the show, bringing their friends. I spotted some gay male friends in the audience, so I knew I could count on them to laugh at my more bawdy stories, bless 'em!! Francis played magnificently, the vibe in the room was electric, my voice sounded excellent, and I ended the show with some drum-less sabar moves . Afterwards, we had a merry high school reunion .... looking around at each other and thinking, "Wow, we are all looking pretty damn good!!!!!!"

I also met DJ Neva, saw booking agent/manager Judith Miller, and went out for salad and drinks with Magali Regis, her lovely husband Sylvain (from Fula Flute) and their friend, Francoise (who made the sabar doc, Guew Bi) Afterwards, Francoise walked me in the direction of my friend's Greenwich Village apt and gave me some excellent tips about Dakar. She said to try to speak as much Wolof as possible, to smile and give some money to the beggars. She told me the phrase in Wolof that means, "Are you married?" (which I have now forgotten...yikes!) so that that I can reply, WAAW WAAW!!!!

Katherine and I sat up late talking in her boyfriend's gorgeous loft before I set the alarm for 5 am. At dawn, a lovely older man from South Carolina drove me to the airport and told me his mom has the same maiden name as my dear friend, Kara Mack. I miss Kara.

The flight to London was another nice 6 hour span of silence, napping, dreaming, writing. Then onto the tube, the five minute walk dragging my bags up Ladbroke Grove in the rain up to our flat and HOME!! Well, our tenant is out of town for four days, so I have the place to myself.

On thing I LOVE about London and miss desperately is how black, white, and it's international population live so much more TOGETHER here. To see everyone chatting, walking, living, raising kids, existing side by side so much more harmoniously is a revelation. London isn't perfect, but it is light years ahead of the USA.

Better run .. have to get some flyers made for the Saturday show. Life is SO WONDERFUL!!! I'll pick up some fruit and veg on Portobello Road and get some nice brown bread from the Vegetarian shop under the flyover. Love you!!!

Boston, New York, London, Seville (WOMEX), Dakar!

2007-09-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

In 2006, I met music manager Stephen Garvan at the FARWest music conference. Stephen loved my music and said, "I think you are very talented. Why don't you call me and we'll brainstorm about your career?"

For six months, I chased Stephen via email and phone as he bounced around the globe. When I finally pinned him down in Idaho, the main thing he said was, "You have the talent and the drive to Go Global, but you are acting too small. You're playing locally, going to local conferences, staying too close to home. Instead, go to WOMEX, the annual world music conference in Europe."

Well, that all sounded well and good, but how? Like most indie artists, it's not like I'm swimming in an ocean of cash! I signed up for the next FARWest conference, but his words percolated in the back of my brain. Then one day, an email notice came through that all World Music Coalition Members were eligible for a huge registration discount for WOMEX. Impulsively, I registered, figuring the most I would lose is $200.

My October registration 3 months away, I had no idea how I would get to Spain, much less organize babysitting for the kids, or paying my way upon getting over there. More percolating. Then one day I thought, "Hey, maybe I can earn some money en route by performing in cities where I have a fan base." I conjured up a dream itineray in my head .. a show in Boston, New York, and then my beloved London before going to WOMEX. And then, I couldn't go all the way to Spain without heading a mere three hours south to Dakar, Senegal to study sabar! Maybe I could collaborate with some musicians there too!

Online at Expedia and Orbitz and Cheap Tickets, the multiple flights of my Dream Itinerary kept costing about $4 - 5,000. Ouch. Maybe I'd just go directly to Spain ... if I could get there at all!

More percolating. Then one day, a friend told me about Travel Portfolio, an excellent agency in Sherman Oaks (www.travel-portfolio.net) who had found her some great last minute round trip prices to France. So the next day, I called them and gave them my ultimate Ashley Goes Global Dream Itinerary. "We'll look into it and get back to you with a quote," said the cheery British travel agent.

Two hours later, she called back sounding flustered and excited, "You won't BELIEVE the price I managed to find for this!," she said. Having dug in with a bunch of insider travel agency sites she'd come up with a grand total for 7 flights (LA to Boston, New York to London, London to Seville, Seville to Madrid, Madrid to Dakar, Dakar to Chicago, Chicago to LA) for a mere $1700.00!!!!????? She couldn't guarantee that the deal would be intact after the weekend and I had until 5pm book it.

$1700?!!! That's a lot of money, but for SEVEN flights?! It's tough to go directly to Dakar and back without it costing about $2200. I called my husband, who said, "You've GOT to do it!" I called my friends and they all said, "You have GOT to go!!" so I did it. I booked it. And now, two months later, tons of the details have fallen into place. I'll be sharing the bill in Boston with a brilliant Malian kora player named Balla Tounkara, then on to New York to play at Googie's Lounge in the East Village. For both shows, I am hiring an excellent guitarist from NYC named Francis Jacob. Then in London (a whole glorious week in my favorite city in the world!!) I'm performing with some old friends and a new guitarist named Phil Stevenson. Long term allies are setting up brainstorming meetings with some UK record labels, too.

In Spain, I'm sharing a hotel room with a dear Italian friend I studied opera with in Bologna, Italy 20 YEARS ago named Luisa Cottifogli. Luisa, by a wild coincidence, has evolved into an INSANELY amazing world music singer (www.luisacottifogli.com). Cannot wait to see her. Who KNOWS who I will meet at WOMEX. I am not performing officially, but I can network, listen to amazing music, learn and grow on the business side of things.

Finally, Dakar. Through MySpace, I met DouDou NDiaye Rose's eldest son, sabar master Djibril NDiaye Rose. He emailed me that he never imagined a Western woman would be able to sing mbalax like I do and said he prayed to God that one day our paths would cross and we might collaborate. Well, what do you know? I'll be in Dakar in November! He just emailed yesterday that he's arranged for us to record together and is setting up for us to film a video for the song while I am there. How cool is that?

On top of that, my dear mum friends in Los Angeles have rallied to help my husband by picking up our 7-year-old daughter for two weeks in a round robin schedule, my sister has offered to have her for the second two weeks and teach her independent study, and a very generous mentor / sponsor (who prefers to remain anonymous) is helping me fund the trip. It's going to be amazing!

I'll be staying with dear friends and living simply to keep costs low. Yes!

So thank you, Stephen Garvan for pushing me to think Global! And thank everyone involved in advance for your support and encouragement. May the path ahead be full of wonderful magical sweet surprises! And to you who are reading, remember to think Big!!! You never know....!

"SABAR TOUBAAB" video seen 60,000 times on Seneweb.com!

2007-09-28T13:37:00.000-07:00

En Francais...
Récemment, j'ai signalé un clip vidéo de YouTube de moi faisant un solo sabar pendant une show a Los Angeles. C'était un solo très impromptu. Deux dames déjeunantes m'ont demandées pendant le show "Où sont vos danseurs? Nous avons dit à nos amis qu'il y aurait des danseurs!" J'ai expliqué que l'argent n'etait pas assez grand pour des danseurs mais pour EUX, je ferais un petit solo moi-même. A la fin du show, j'ai signalé au joueur parlant du tama, Magatte Sow "Tambour pour moi et je fait un petit solo." Il a fait, j'ai dansé, ils l'ont aimé, et ma amie, Lynette a l'attrapé tout sur le film.

Quelqu'un a Seneweb.com a trouvé cette video, signalée lui, et il a été vu maintenant par presque 58.000 personnes. Incroyable! Bien plus incroyable est que puisque j'ai co-ecrti une chanson pour Youssou NDour que s'appelé Boul Bayekou, et parce que je peux danser aussi, Youssou m'a piloté à Dakar pour préparer avec ses 7 danseurs sénégalais pour deux expositions: un au théâtre de Sorano à Dakar, et puis à son énorme exposition annuelle chez Bercy à Paris devant 20.000 personnes. C'était l'une des choses les plus merveilleuses que j'ai jamais faites. Merci ainsi Seneweb.com ! Il y a une vidéo de moi et Aziz Faye quand nous avons danse pour Youssou au théâtre de Sorano ci-dessous…

En Anglais...
Recently, I posted a YouTube video clip of me doing a sabar solo during a show at The Skirball Center. It was a very impromptu solo. Two lunching ladies asked me during the show's intermission, "Where are your dancers? We told our friends that there would be dancers!" I explained that the budget wasn't big enough for dancers but for THEM, I would do a solo myself. At the show's end, I signaled to talking drum player, Magatte Sow, "Drum for me and I'll do a little solo." He did, I danced, they loved it, and my friend, Lynette Wich, caught it all on film.

For the first six weeks it was on YouTube, 250 people per week were watching it. I was so excited! After a month, the viewer count had reached 1,200 and I thought, "Cooool!"

The one Monday, I checked it again and was stunned to find that number had jumped to 10,400????!!! I was totally puzzled and sure that it had been a mistake. Almost all of my other clips were growing in views at a normal rate, so why the jump?

Then Tuesday night Malik Sow (Magatte's dad) called to ask, "So, have you seen yourself on Seneweb.com?" No.

Turns out, www.seneweb.com is the #1 portal of news and culture for Francophone West Africa. Someone there spotted the video and decided to post it on the front page!! They gave it the title "Sabar Toubaab" which made me burst out laughing, as it means something like, "White Person Dancing Sabar." ("Toubab" can also mean "Western person" or "Non-Senegalese person," depending on the context in which it is used). It is now no longer on view directly from the website, but as of today over 55,000 people have watched it! There are a ton of comments below, too, that cover the widest span. Most are positive:

"how great that she shows such interest in our culture"
"look at how nice and modestly she dresses!"
"well done!"
"she must be Spanish"
"No, she must be French"
"No, she's English!"
"Frankly, I'm Senegalese and she dances better than me!"

Also, some negative ranting ones, too (yikes!) that inspired tons of counter-comments. The whole thing is like a Wonderful Crazy Cosmic Joke!!! Here is the direct link, if anyone wants to see the page:
http://www.seneweb.com/videos/video/183.php

I'm tempted to make myself a T-shirt with "Sabar Toubab" on the front and wear it in the streets of Dakar!

P.S. Crazy to think that this + writing a song (Boul Bayekou) for Youssou NDour + doing a solo at his December concert in LA equaled Youssou inviting me to Dakar to rehearse with his dancers for two weeks and then perform with him both in Dakar and in front of 20,000 at Bercy in Paris! Here is another video clip of me dancing for Youssou in Dakar... there's another blog about it at my page!

Performing w/ RY COODER, TAJ MAHAL @ UCLA's Royce Hall for The Ash Grove's 50th Anniversary!

2007-05-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

By chance at Howard Larman's memorial, I sat in my church pew next to Ed Pearl, owner of LA's "The Ash Grove." The Ash Grove was one of the most influential folk clubs in the 60's and 70's, featuring the absolute Royalty of folk / rock / blues artists until it burned down in 1973. After I sang, Ed insisted that I sounded like Joan Baez, for whom he had produced concerts for four years, and asked for my card.

The next day, Ed emailed requesting my CDs. Yesterday, he called to book me for a huge 50th Anniversary concert for The Ash Grove at UCLA's Royce Hall called "Legend and Legacy" next April. I'll be singing alongside artists like Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, Kris Kristopherson, Linda Rondstadt, Ben Harper, and Jackson Browne!!!!!! He said I would represent the next generation of artists carrying on their tradition. I'm blown away!!!!!

Just the thought of Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne (who both love Malian blues) and Ry Cooder (who produced those brilliant Ali Farka Toure CDs) hearing what I can do onstage gives me goosepimples!

Singing @ Howard Larman's Memorial

2007-05-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

Roz and Howard Larman, (the venerable KPFK radio DJs who's show, Folkscene, has run for 37 years) recently invited me to record an hour's session for them. Along with my band, I pre-recorded 8 songs + an interview, live at Wendy Waldman's house. Howard was in hospital at the time, suffering from complications from their car accident in late 2006, so Roz interviewed me. We all had a wonderful time.

None of us imagined that Howard would pass away shortly thereafter. And when he did, Roz and their son, Allen, invited me to sing at Howard's funeral.

The memorial service was held in an enormous and very beautiful old church near Vermont and Wilshire and, to my great surprise, there was a dazzling array of Who's Who luminaries from the folk world: Louden Wainright III, Jackson Browne, Richard Thompson, Wendy Waldman, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jennifer Warnes, and many other legendary folk singers and musicians. I was one of the opening singers and, looking out over the crowd of 600, I realized that it was a HUGE honor.

Funerals remind me of losing my own parents, so I was pretty emotional. I sang You Are the One for Me a capella, to honor Roz and Howard's love for one another. Digging deep into the lyrics, I could feel my Voice filling the church and sinking into the pores of every person. It felt haunting and amazing all at once.

Afterwards, when I told Jackson Browne that his song, "All Good Things" had provided the evening's emotional centerpoint for me, he replied that hearing ME had inspired his song choice. God, there were SO many amazing performances. Jennifer Warnes sounded wonderful singing Amazing Grace a capella and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had the whole room singing, "The Circle Shall Not Be Broken."

A moving, sad-yet-celebratory, inspiring fitting memorial for a wonderful man.

Northern California Shows!

2007-05-08T12:18:00.001-07:00

Performed acoustically, with Andre Manga accompanying me, at The Cozmic Cafe (Placerville) and Freight & Salvage (Berkeley) last weekend and OH, what a wonderful weekend it was!! I flew up with Koyan on Friday afternoon and appeared alongside Irina Rivkin for a cable TV station at a local community college. The room they filmed us in resembled a broom closet ... filled with mics and cables and anti-authoritarian posters. I sang 20 minutes worth of songs, complete with cheery intros, to the micro-mini camera perched on top of the bookcase. Very low-key and surreal, yet great!

Saturday morning, drove at 5 am from Berkeley to Nevada City in my sister's pickup truck. What a glorious morning!!! The sun rose over beautiful rolling hills covered in springtime green that turned to pine forests as I rose up towards the mountains. I was so high and happy, I kept shouting "Woooohooooo!!!!" at the top of my lungs. Just to be out of town, on the road, performing, alone, with the family all taken care of. SO GREAT!

KVMR is a very well-respected radio station, set in Nevada City (a gorgeous mining town) and Larry Hillberg, the host, was very welcoming and kind. He played Joni Mitchell and Ali Farka Toure (how perfect is that?) before interviewing me. I sang two songs a capella with my shekere. Larry's big dog Sadie, who mainly slept under the control board, kept getting up and coming over whenever I snapped my fingers, so I found myself scratching the dog behind the ears while snapping with my other hand and singing ... all at the same time! One guy at the station told me earnestly that I had an even better voice than Joni Mitchell, which made me smile. No one compares to The Goddess!

From there, I drove to Sacramento airport, had a short nap in the parking garage, and picked up Andre, who arrived wearing Versace sunglasses. He looked like a rock star arriving in a small town. We drove through more beautiful countryside to Placerville, met our hosts, Rich and Diana, and set up at the Cozmic Cafe for our wonderful show that night. They had really worked hard on publicity and with the KVMR show in the morning, we did pretty well for a town where NO ONE had known us previously ... about 18 people. The sound was excellent and Andre did an incredible job accompanying me on pizzicato bass. Sometimes he sounded like a guitar, sometimes like a bassist, with arpeggios suggesting the chords and wonderful solos. Heaven!

Really lovely people, great organic food, magic little night ... and I got really positive feedback from everyone, "You MUST come back!" "You'd be SO great in the Bay Area." "We'd love to see you with your dancers." "Next time you come, we'll bring out friends." "Wow, you have such a natural confident stage presence." "I loved that song about your mom." "Your voice is amazing."

The next day we drove back to Berkeley, more naps, and the Freight & Salvage show was a revelation. Having had the night before as a warm-up gig, Andre blew my mind at the Freight. Everything he played was perfectly tuned, sensitive, creative, fresh, glorious. Meanwhile, my VOICE was supple and strong and expressive and sounded incredible. The lovely sound woman, Heidi, had everything sounding ideal within seconds of sound checking. I had taught some intricate backing vocal parts to Moira Smiley and one of her backing vocalists, so they joined us on Honeycomb Grey and Step by Step. The crowd loved Frank & Loretta, which my sister and her girlfriend had never heard, too.

Loads of old friends from my high school and Berkeley days came along to see me, with my sister and her girlfriend, Koyan and three other 7 year olds in the front row. My set was super well-received, I sold CDs, and DVDs, and gabbed with everyone afterwards. Irina's set was the best I have ever seen her do and Moira Smiley and VOCO did a fantastic set after her. The whole evening was triumphant!

So there we go! I flew home yesterday with Koyan, who promptly threw up all over the floor and me in a packed shuttle bus at the airport. (She gets car sick really easily if the driver rides the brakes to much). We took a second bus home down Lincoln, me propped up with our bags across two seats, Koyan asleep in my arms, both of us merrily stinking of vomit, while the bus picked up people in wheelchairs and people jostled for space. I wanted to burst out laughing, thinking of my situation's contrast with Andre's, who had flown into Burbank to go straight to his first rehearsal with Josh Grobin, preparing for a five star, all-first-class tour of Europe next week! Koyan and I got home from the bus stop and spent the rest of the day recuperating, unpacking, napping, eating, bathing, catching up with my son and husband, and HANGING OUT!

Life is good!

YOUSSOU NDOUR releases a song I co-wrote!!!!

2007-04-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Youssou NDour and Les Super Etoiles de Dakar have been my all time, hands-down favorite band for nearly 20 years. And last Tuesday, April 10th, 2007, Youssou released his CD "Alsaama day" in Senegal with a song called "Boul Bayekou" that I co-wrote as the first track! What an honor!!!

Jason Hann and I wrote a song together in 2004 after Jason had come up with an incredible mbalax groove. It was intended for my 4th CD, but when Jimi MBaye guested on the record, Mbacke Dioum heard it and suggested I submit it to Youssou. Youssou then said he wanted to use it and the rest is history! Looking forward to seeing it on the international release!

Youssou's version is insanely great ... he has translated my lyrics into Wolof, mixed in some brilliant sabar "baks," and created a beautiful outro as an ending. The first time I heard his wonderful voice singing my melody, I felt like I was flying! So brilliant! Big Gratitude to one and all!

Rhiannon

2006-12-03T17:57:00.000-08:00

Rhiannon is The Bomb. She is a jazz singer /improvisational queen from the Bay Area who has worked regularly with Bobby McFerrin for years. Her Spring performance at The Skirball Center blew me away and her recent show @ The Vic amazed me. She has ideas, voicings, voices, scatting, world rhythms and textures up the wazoo ... and she creates a Flow from the beginning to the end of her performance that is so rich, so in the moment, surprising, funny, wild, spacious, lightly structured, free, and harmonious. Her shows are like rivers where everything is woven in ... a passing idea, a story, some Tuvan throat singing ... all accompanied by the constant telepathetic musical dialogue between her and her brilliant musicians.

I took her workshop yesterday on vocal improvisation and after eight hours of exercises, Zen koans, letting loose, creating creating creating (and singing with singers for a change!), I came home high as a kite! For me, she represents a small door into a whole new expansive world.

A Capella @ The FARWest Music Conference

2006-11-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a magnificent weekend in Sacramento at the FARWest folk music conference. It had threatened to be a disaster. I was super sick last week, my voice was nearly gone, none of my musicians were free to accompany me, and I was scheduled to perform six 30 minute showcases for presenters, radio people, managers, folk music press, professional musicians over Friday and Saturday. AAAAAH!

I got up at 4am on Friday morning and flew up alone, only to find that Southwest had mislaid my bag. So I strolled into my first showcase and told the audience: "OK, you got me ... I am naked up here ... no musicians, no instruments, no push-up bra, not even a pitch pipe to tell me what key I am in ..."

And you know what? It was amazing! I sang the songs, snapped my fingers, got them to join me, danced, told funny stories, cracked jokes, and for when a musician would normally do a solo, I'd say, "OK, just imagine a gorgeous Brazilian playing these beautiful chords here ..." while I'd hum the melody or scat, dance, and continue snapping.

People genuinely loved it. One woman pulled me aside and said, "I saw you yesterday performing a cappella and I thought to myself, 'How am I so mesmerized when she is up there all by herself?' " Another new Friend who sent me a MySpace hello said, "Although I only heard a couple of your songs in your showcase, because I arrived right at the end, I've become fanantical about your presentation and music."

The rest of the weekend was brilliant too. SO many lovely talented people, all connected by music ... great performances, workshops, networking opportunities, excellent food, and I had a ball with the two women I shared a room with who I had never met before! Stayed up super late both nights and came home a combination of exhausted and renewed.

It was a watershed for me: to know deep down that, ultimately, I can stand on my own.

My three favorite guys that I always see at these conferences are The Buccaneers: a male threesome from Alberta, Canada, who are SO funny and talented. We spent much of the weekend hanging out and howling with laughter.

Life is good and I am grateful!

MySpace

2006-11-13T15:48:00.000-08:00

Everyone was bugging me about MySpace. But since the notion of having ANOTHER web-y thing to worry about filled me with dread, I made sulking, unenthusiastic steps toward it. My son uploaded my basic page in July and it languished for four months. Emails from people wanting to be added as "friends" (what did THAT mean?) piled up unanswered (Sorry!).

Finally, Andre Manga practically yelled at me by phone to get on the MySpace bandwagon. So I did. And now I am a hopeless junkie, checking my page 50 times a day, sending gushy messages and comments to my heroes, all excited when someone new or familiar stops by.

Why is it so different from email? Because it is visual, easy, there's real music involved, and we all share a common basic template. Because it's all about appreciating and helping one another, making connections, networking, and it's actually fun. Maybe I'll hire someone to clean the apartment ...!

Equapoise follow-up

2006-11-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

At the same stairs, an hour later, the same producer told me he had watched the DVD of our Pier show, saying "It's extraordinary, amazing, great sound, beautifully presented. You are one your Way!" Meanwhile, another regular had me read a Yogananda quote about abundance ... to clear my mind of all thoughts of lack, clear out the restlessness so I can hear the answers to my questions. Big Gratitude!

Equapoise

2006-11-01T07:17:00.000-08:00

Three mornings a week, I trudge up and down Santa Monica's 4th Street stairs (189 of them) along with a colorful cast of regulars. Like a coffee shop crowd, we shoot the breeze, talk politics, review new movies, share stories. One film producer, who is one part Hollywood, two parts Zen, told me about Equapoise. Equapoise is about being centered, mindful, aware of life's Flow. It is the art of coaxing things to go one's way without forcing ... like that story of the sun and wind's competition to get a man to take of his coat. The man tightens his grip at the wind's fierce blowing, but aaaah, takes it off as the sun warms the day.

Equapoise. Great idea. And I SO don't have it today. If anyone knows how to find some, please let me know...!

Opened for SALIF KEITA last Thursday!

2006-08-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

After a long build up of rehearsals, emails, costume hunting, excitement, and sleepless nights, we finally did it! What a magic night! Got there at 4pm to set up, meet Salif's wonderful musicians (SO excited to meet Ousmane Kouyate!), and compare notes about musicians in Paris that we co-knew. It made me nostalgic for my London days.

Their sound check went on a long time, so we ended up with about 8 minutes to get the sound right, then offstage, quick run up to check on the merchandise people, makeup, costume, and ON we went!

The show seemed to pass by in an instant. Despite restricted space, the short sound check, and only three rehearsals, compared to Salif's 40 show build-up, we put on a Great Show. The musicians were brilliant, the dancers on fire, our costumes were bright and dazzling, young 14 year old Senegalese tama prodigy Magatte Sow wowed everyone, and at the end of 45 minutes, we received a standing ovation. For an opening act, that ain't bad!

During the break, I tried to get to the merch booth, but didn't make it, given all the people coming up to congratulate me and say how much they had enjoyed the music. That felt amazing! I also introduced my husband and our two kids to Salif (who speaks Bambara, like my husband). When Salif met our son, Sundiata, he smiled broadly, as we named him after Salif's great ancestor, Sundiata Keita, the mighty king of Mali.

Salif's set was transcendently beautiful. I will never forget Ousmane Kouyate's solo ... so unhurried and tenderly brilliant.

Insert Very Happy Sigh here...

The Art of a Non-Listening Crowd

2006-06-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Last night we performed for Celebrate La Musique at CineSpace. On the summer solstice, it mirrored France's annual Fete de la Musique festival. Jean Roussou was SO kind to invite us, the world music lineup was impressive, the space was beautiful and intimate, the sound really good ... and yet the audience talked straight through both the opener and my sets.

What to do when that happens? I wish there was a website to go to for performance advice. I have seen artists walk off stage or fall silent or turn into the band and play for one another or play louder or just slog limply, angrily, sullenly through their set.

Up there in the spotlight, I mulled through my options. First, I asked the band to turn down and play at an reasonable volume despite the thunderous conversation in the room. Walking off was OUT, as I couldn't afford to pay the band myself. After the second song, I politely suggested the talkers choose one of the other five rooms to chat, while leaving this one quiet so that we could be heard.

A pause ... no one moved ... and the roar took up once again. Hmmm. Time to put on a brave smile, commit to delivering my Best, singing my heart out, and staying positive.

A big learning opportunity. Any suggestions?

Opening for BAABA MAAL @ The Knitting Factory

2006-06-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

Flew home on Monday from dancing in a feature film (set in the sabar dance scene) all tired and happy ... only to find Martin Fleishman's invitation in my inbox to open for Baaba Maal the follow Saturday! Backflipped with excitement in the tiny space between our bed and my desk.

Given the small budget, we did a scaled-down show without bass, piano, perc. What a lovely evening. The band played beautifully, the sound was excellent, the crowd super attentative, sold a good number of CDs (thank you!), and met lots of friendly people. Aziz Faye's set after us was electric, and then onto Baaba Maal himself.

His dancers blew me away. Both of them were so cheerful, energetic, creative, entertaining, NON-STOP. Baaba looked tired. Not only was he on tour, but he had already done a show at the Hollywood Bowl the same afternoon! However, he utterly threw himself into his performance. His voice was a beautiful as always and they really threw a party until 1am.

Happy sigh.

Gigs! Gigs! Gigs!

2006-05-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

In the past month, we have had some really lovely shows. The CRAFT AND FOLK ART MUSEUM show was acoustic-with-dancers in a gorgeous space upstairs. Brilliant young Senegalese Magatte Sow (14) drummed and stunned everyone with his tama playing. One dancer fell on her butt and then, to the audience's delight, made a funny scooting move on her bum as if it was perfectly planned. Everyone was merry and the whole evening was fresh and intimate.

We came on after an electrifying belly dancer for our show at UCLA. It was fun to have Alecia and Kara (our dancers) come out and keep the rhythms flowing in another groove/tradition.

Playing at SAN GABRIEL was a pleasure, as the woman booking there is so kind (Tymeri Cuervo). She had everyone in the band sign a picture of me, which made me feel like a Star! A warm and friendly local festival.

Roberto Montero and I played at the TORRANCE ART MUSEUM show on our own. Great sound, sun going down, a sweet attentative audience of people who had never heard me before. They bought CDs, showered me with compliments, and covered my mailing list with exclamations like Powerful! Great! Lovely! Delicious!

Our performance at THE VIC was one of the best we have ever done. We presented the music as a jazz lineup and everything gelled like magic. Otmaro Ruiz, Andre Manga, Roberto Montero, and Walter Rodriguez were mesmerizing on their respective instruments, the crowd LOVED it, club owner Ray Slayton was ecstatic, people who had never heard of me bought my entire collection of CDs outright, and I was so high with happiness when I left at 1am, I didn't sleep all night.

Finally, we did a show downtown early Sunday morning for the LA BIKE COALITION BIKE RIDE...invited by Aaron Paley at CARS. There were very few people there, but the band had a ball, the organizers were delightful, we put on a great show, and everyone left happy.

Keep 'em coming!

Opening for SALIF KEITA!

2006-04-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

The Santa Monica Pier's booking agent, Rene Engel, has invited me and the band to open for the almighty SALIF KEITA on August 10. How amazing is that?! Years ago, while researching African music at London's Sound Archives, I stumbled across Salif's record, "Soro," and played it for eight weeks straight. After listening to countless hours of artists from the West or Africa seeking a musical bridge between the cultures that worked, this was It. A masterpiece.

The last time I saw Salif in concert, he put on a wonderful show was at UCLA's Royce Hall. I danced the whole time. At the end, his backing vocalists came across the stage and pointed into the audience, insisting that someone get up and solo for the last number. I looked behind me, wondering who they wanted, then looked back to realize that it was me! Dragging me up on stage, I ripped the knees off my pants, but dancing up there that night was a high I will never forget.

We will have about 40 minutes to put on the Best Show we have ever done. Can't wait!

If I Had Short Hair

2006-04-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

My dear, super-artistic friend, Claudia Parducci, took this picture at her studio. Sometimes I wonder what I would look like with my hair choppped off? Probably like this!

Kathleen Monahan (KDM Promotions) to do Radio Promotions

2006-04-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

Kathleen has red hair, years of experience, a warm & positive vibe, and loves Flying Over Bridges. She's in! I am really excited for her to be doing radio promotion for the record. Her company represents brilliant artists like Rosa Passos, Angelique Kidjo, David Sanchez, Ojos de Brujo, Bebel Gilberto, David Sanchez, and Susan McKeown. It'll be interesting to see where the record catches on. She classifies me as "Adult Eclectic," which is fine be me! To Infinity (radio) and beyond!

My Song on the Radio in Israel!

2006-04-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

Feeling SO global! A DJ named Menachem Vinegrad played "Lucky" from Flying Over Bridges on his radio show in Upper Galillee, Israel on April 3rd. How cool is that? I shared the playlist with Lila Downs, Susheela Raman and Kiran Ahluwalia. What an honor!

The First Day of Spring's Good News

2006-03-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

Spring is here and here is the Good News!

**KCRW's Tom Schnabel played "Seven" and "Lucky" from F.O. Bridges.

**Three big world music festival presenters LOVE the CD.

**A Dutch music magazine editor says it's the best album of its type since Joni's records of the 70's.

**A really lovely guy at a major booking agency loves the music, asked me to "keep him posted" on developments, and is considering me to open for one of their touring summer acts.

**Calabashmusic.com has been super supportive and has me listed as one of their top downloaded artists.

**I've had steady orders from around the world. Fans owning my prior releases are thrilled to find my new CDs and have emailed me the NICEST feedback.

**FolkWorks did a beautiful feature on me and are sponsoring a concert at CAFAM in April.

**The Santa Monica Pier's Twilight Series is considering me as an opening act for a big artist this summer.

**Countless CD packages are out there like ripe fruit, waiting for people to take a bite, fall in love with the flavor, hold the seeds, and imagine the Big Global Tree I would become, if given proper sun and water.

I need a team to help me get this music out there. May the Right Ones with the Right Hearts, Minds, and Vision be looking for me as I am looking for them. And may we find one another soon!

First Fake Nails, follow-up

2006-03-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

Had my fake nails painstakingly removed yesterday ... what a relief! I can type! I can wash up! I can braid my daughter's hair! I can get stuff out of my pockets! I can scratch an itch and it feels gooood!

When I'm nominated for the Grammy's, I'll consider getting them again, but probably not before...!

Tucson: Eric Hansen's houseconcert

2006-02-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

Eric Hansen, the singer-songwriter with the voice of an angel, the curls of a surfer, and heart-healing songs, invited me to perform at his house in Tucson. (www.erichansen.com) Heaven! Roberto Montero and I flew out on Saturday. Tucson is pale desert green, spacious, gorgeous, calm, ringed by mountains, domed by a Big Sky.

The show was sooo great: lots of really kind, lively people ready for good music and a show. I sang, told stories, danced, joked around, and the ladies all fell in love with Roberto. He opened the second set with "Girl from Ipanema," which had them swooning. When I mopped his brow with my scarf, a la Tom Jones, one lady cried out, "Can I have that?" It brought the house down! Afterwards, delicious pot luck food and Good Conversation till 1am.

Eric gave me the honor of sleeping in his touring van named The Beast: beautiful double futon, flannel sheets, heating, lamps. Reading a book of meditations before sleep, the one that stuck with me simply said, "Don't Hurry, Don't Worry, Don't Think Too Much!"

I love my life!

Temple Bar, Phlight Restaurant, Valentine's Day performances

2006-02-17T15:32:00.000-08:00

The Temple Bar show was wonderful: the musicians sounded incredible, the Sound sounded incredible (thanks to Swan Montgomery), Alecia and Kara both danced their behinds off, good numbers in the house, and financially, I broke even.

My older brother, bless him, brought a pile of wild friends who looked and acted as if they'd been bussed in from Burning Man. Lots of whooping and "tribal writhing" and sequins for our set's calm early numbers. Half of me wanted to get offstage and slap him. The other wanted to burst out laughing and hug him. He is a true Character.

The only hiccup was that my skirt fell off mid-second-dance, much to the crowd's delight. Underneath was a "beccio" (a white thin underskirt) which, as my mum would have said, "left nothing to the imagination."

All around, though, a great show!

The Phight restaurant show was interesting: lovely ambiance, great food, very nice people, but a little tricky. Diners want ambiance for their meal that's not too demanding, so I kept wondering if they found my original material annoying? I did have one table's-worth of fans, thank God. They made the three hours of singing worthwhile! Oh, and Christopher Perez, who booked us and is such a heartful, sweet man. Roberto Montero played beeeeautifully!

Valentine's Day, I had been asked to come along and sing to a fan/friend's wife as a surprise. When she answered the door, she burst into tears and cried, "Oh Bill! You didn't!" I sang three songs a cappella to them in the garden sunshine where they were having breakfast, accompanied by the screeching of trash trucks. In a strange way, it was really great. We sat together chatting and drinking coffee and telling stories for an hour before I headed off. How romantic is that?

KPRK Radio Interview with Sergio Mielniczenko + Fake Nails

2006-02-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Sergio Mielniczenko of KPFK invited me onto his show to perform two songs live (with Roberto playing guitar) and be interviewed. Sergio is from Brazil and has a super-sultry voice that I always try to match (and fail) when talking to him on air. Bless him. He's the one DJ in LA who has consistently supported this music. He always asks me Big Questions that I love over-answering. Told one story about Manu Dibango and Andre Manga that was far too long. Must edit it for future usage!

We sounded great singing/playing too. At the end of the interview, Sergio told listeners that the first three callers would receive a pair of free tickets to our show tonight. The phones instantly lit up!

Feeling really excited about tonight. It'll be Otmaro's first time playing with us, the place should be full, the band sounds great, the dancers are ready. I even got a French tip manicure with a double gift certificate my neighbor had given me. My first ever (and probably my last). They look weird, they feel weird, they are hard to type with, and my hard-working mama-hands look like a scullery maid's with a manicure. Yet, at the same time, I keep looking at them, flitting them about, and they do make me feel like Something Special is going on. Everyone in the nail salon was cracking up at how clueless I was. Cinderella city!

Countdown to the CD Release Party

2006-02-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

Three days until our Big CD Release show at Temple Bar on Saturday, Feb. 11!!! So excited!

Had a rehearsal on Saturday last Saturday at a Hollywood studio. The guy who ushered me into the room looked around and said, "Yup, here it is...all you need is three microphone stands and some Lysol." The stink of the room WAS gag-worthy, but I loved how he said it so cheerily and matter-of-factly. He had the traditional long fried blond hair and red nail-polish of a hardened rocker. Why are those guys always so sweet when you get close enough to talk to them?

One by one, the musicians filed in, greeting one another warmly and setting up. Stories flying around the room, Andre and Paul kicking into a bass/drum groove with some impossible Cameroonian time signature. We whizzed through the five songs we know and then launched into the five new tracks. Ooooh, they sounded SO great!

Having Otmaro on board feels like a gift from the heavens. This will be my first show ever with a pianist in the band and what a pianist!!! Everyone else in the room is so talented, I feel as though I have the best world/jazz/African/Latin band in LA!

I've been rehearsing with Alecia and Kara too, when we manage to stop chatting and howling with laughter. Lambert sounds like an angel. Also, loads of emails from friends and fans saying, "We'll be there!"

I have been performing at Temple Bar for about 4 years now. We are ripe and ready to get out and start performing nationally, internationally ... Let's go Global! May this evening be beautiful, inspiring, wild and rich and free. I am so blessed!

Make-up

2006-01-28T15:54:00.000-08:00

A friend urged me to get a hair & make-up person to glam me up for my upcoming CD release concert. Oh the memories of being drowned in mascara and eyeshadow on video and photo shoots in London! I tried telling one Italian makeup woman to make me up as if I were a man...." I know I need it, but don't want it to be obvious." She pulled back and replied, indignantly, and with that beautiful accent, "But you are a Woman!" 30 minutes later I looked like I stepped out of a perfume add. AAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!

Local music conference

2006-01-19T21:18:00.000-08:00

A day of details. Attended a band/presenter conference waaay cross town waaay too early in the morning. Spent the morning behind my booth, sandwiched between one guy who provides sound systems and another grizzled guy who looks like he used to be a star ... face like Tom Waits. An Elvis impersonator was across from us in a purple sequined suit, complete with Elvis hair (at 8am!) A Neil Diamond impersonator was next to him. Spoke to loads of people who book Concerts in the Park series around the Southland. Many took a sampler CD and brochure.

With all due respect to those dedicated musicians this morning, I'm wondering if this is just a safe route to bill-paying gigs, when my real destination is music festivals featuring artists who play their own material (not Top 40 songs from the 70s!). I was selling myself as a oddity: a worldbeat band to add variety to everyone's programming. But are we truly suited for any public show? We aren't really a standard African or worldbeat party band. Behind the dancing and the color are real songs and something deeper.

Well, I spent one morning at it. Let's see what comes of those packages. And in the meantime, back on the path to more recognition as the artiste I am at heart!

Oh, and further details: licked 140 stamps at the post office today to send out a mailing for our upcoming Temple Bar show (in addition to my email list). By the time I left, my mouth tasted horrible, but those invitations to our CD release party were on their way!

The Post Office and the Afternoon Sky

2006-01-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

Just home from the post office, where I dropped off 30 packages to festivals all over the USA and Canada. Eyes red from computer strain. Fingers tired from typing. Desk looks like a bomb hit it. Laundry to the ceiling in the kids' bathroom and the carpets seem mossy with dust. But the late afternoon sky was so beautiful, the air so clean and fresh, it healed everything and made me happy!

Ashley's first ever blog

2006-01-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

My first ever blog! May I quickly figure out how on earth the whole thing works! I am setting this up as a diary (for anyone who is interested) tracking my re-entry into the global music scene in a bigger way than local gigs and festivals in the middle of nowhere. Wishing myself Good Luck, Good Fortune, Lots of Laughs, and Fun along the waaay. Here I gooooooooo!