Lamp Fall

Cheikh Lo | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000E6EHFY
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,023 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #55 in Music > World Music > Africa > Senegal & Gambia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheikh does it again, May 11, 2006

By 

J. TIMMERMAN (Lawson, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lamp Fall (Audio CD)

Fans of Cheikh get in the queue! His first album in six years, and his third solo international effort for World Circuit, is another masterpiece. It was recorded in Dakar, London and Bahia, Brazil. Like his others it is eclectic, individual and brims with joyful melodies, nicely sprung rhythms and tasteful, creative arrangements.

Cheikh Lo, from Senegal, states that the theme of the album is his Africa, a plea against war and poverty, but it's also about love, religion and spirituality. As on his previous albums there is a huge variety of African rhythms, with a little Latin thrown in as well. Apart from two that are vaguely similar, each track is a completely different adventure, from songs of praise to full-blown dance numbers.

The opening song "Sou" sounds very French with its mellow accordion, although it is sung in bambara, a Burkina Faso language. From there we proceed to some delicious funky dance tracks like "Xale" and the soukous-inspired "N'Galuia", a processional "Senegal-Bresil" conjuring up a carnival, psalm-like soulful ballads such as the evocative "Sante Yalla", a reggae "Bamba Mo Woor" and more.

There are plenty of contributing musicians yet mixes remarkably never sound crowded. In fact they range from almost understated to grandly symphonic. Many are elegantly mbalax percussion-driven, while Cheikh's wide-ranging mellifluous voice is always clearly focused whether it is intimate or passionately soaring. There is a judicious employment of wind or vocal choruses, and guitar, saxophone or other instrumental solos blend rather than project.

The warm unpretentious music always flows naturally, the ensemble playing is as tight as it gets, and the ambient recording is full and detailed. A most engaging album that will never wear out its welcome.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Africa to the Americas and back to Africa again, April 28, 2006

By 

The Djeli (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lamp Fall (Audio CD)

Excellent album from one of today's most incredible musicians. Not only does "Lamp Fall" find this West African artist embracing ancient Wolof musical traditions that reveal the Wolof as one of the primary African origins of the music of people of African descent in Cuba, the U.S., Brasil, and the Caribbean, but he re-Africanizes the music of these diasporic Africans into a rich, multifaceted, and sophisticated sound.

Though this album doesn't proceed "Ne La Thiass" in greatness, it remains a remarkable contribution to the evergrowing and complex music scene overflowing in both Senegal and Mali.