In his sixth and latest album “New African Orleans”, released by ENJA and Yellow Bird, bass guitarist and composer Alune Wade explores the multiple junctions between his native West African rhythms, the Afrobeat and juju rhythms from Lagos and the brass band repertoire immortalized in New Orleans.

“I’m exploring a world that goes from my roots to the lost branches on the other side of the Atlantic,” explains the musician from Senegal. He has whittled down around 50 compositions – both original and standards - to a dozen which Alune recorded in Paris, Dakar, Lagos and New Orleans.

“The idea first came to me during the Jazz à Gorée festival I organized back in 2014,” he explains. “It had me reflect on the notion of reversing the musical trip most people take from the United States to the African continent. I wanted to set out westward and begin a musical conversation with the best artists, both in Nigeria and the US.”

To achieve this, Wade has invited top artists from both sides of the Atlantic, including the Nigerian talking drummer Olaore Muyiwa Ayandeji, the percussionist Weedie Braimah and the jazz drummer Herlin Riley from New Orleans.

The musical inspirations are equally transatlantic, ranging from Dr. John to Manu Dibango and Charlie Parker. But the 45-year-old also pays homage to his father who was a brass band star in his native Senegal back in the Sixties.

1. Night Tripper [4:13]
2. Boogie and Juju [5:08]
3. Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya [5:11]
4. Voodoo Child [4:55]
5. Water No Get Enemy [5:05]
6. From Congo to Square [5:40]
7. Taxi Driver [4:03]
8. Same Fufu [5:49]
9. Three Baobabs [6:57]
10. Watermelon Man [3:20]
11. Dialect from the Mulattozy Tribe [4:03]

This musically insightful new recording opens on the deep grooved Night Tripper and then we get the scat-tastically rhythmic Boogie and Juju, the soulfully-driven Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya and both the all-embracing sounds of Voodoo Child and the languishing balladry of Water No Get Enemy.

Along next is the emboldened, yet free-flowing storytelling of From Congo to Square which is itself backed by the melodious Taxi Driver, the playfully upbeat Same Fufu, and the delightful hipsway of Three Baobabs, the set rounding out on the funky Watermelon Man, closing on the infectious foot-tapper Dialect from the Mulattozy Tribe.

Musicians:
Yehmi Olutosin : Baritone Saxophone; Victor Ademofe : Trumpet; Camille Passeri : Trumpet; Olaore Muyiwa Ayandeji : Talking DrumAlune Wade : Vocals, Bass, Keyboards; Cédric Duchemann : Keyboards; Alix Goffic : Drums; Harry Ahonlonsou : Tenor Saxophone; Camille Passeri : Trumpet; Victor Ademofe : Trumpet; Yehmi Olutosin : Baritone Saxophone, Trombone; Kirk Joseph : Sousaphone; Alix Goffic : Drums; Kyle A. Roussel : Piano, Organ; Hugues Mayot : Bass Clarinet; Weedie Braimah : Percussions; Julia Sarr : Backing Vocals; Olyza Zamati : Backing Vocals

Official Purchase Link

www.alunewade.net