The rich musical vibration of Gambia (The West Africa nation immortalized in Alex Hailey's roots) is presented in this exciting new collection of Gum bay (Goom-bay) music.

Gumbay means " to swing". The roots of the blues and jazz can be traced to the original Gumbay sound which emanated from Gambia.

Sotokoto means "under the tree" and represents the great roots from which numerous branches of music throughout the world have grown.

Soto Koto band is a group of pre-eminent musician from Africa, Europe and the Americas unifying a diverse range of ancient and modern influences. The Kora, a traditional 12 stringed instrument and the balafong, which evolved into the xylophone, are among the exotic elements integrated into the full contemporary sound. Special guests include Bill Summers (Michael Jackson, Herboie Haricock, Sting, Salifu Keita) on percussion, Gary Meek on sax, Sourakata Koite on the kora and higher Octave recording artists William Aura on bass.

The mission of the Soto Koto Band is to enrich the musical culture of Gambia with the global sound of the 90's.

Produced by Mr Oko Drammeh , the driving force behind the band is also the creator of the African Music festival in Delft, Holland, one of Europe's largest African event.

In this capacity, he has been a major influences in rising awareness of the way introduced in his debut higher Octave production, gumbay Dance featuring Gambian vocalist Abdul Kabirr.

Higher Octave continues its commitment to bring you the first music from around the world with this album "Soto Koto Band" featuring the instrument compositions of Pap Touray.

Pap is a pioneer of contemporary African music as well as one of The Gambia's most accomplished masters of traditional sounds. For more information log on www.okodrammeh.com.

 

The Daily Observer (Banjul)
29 February 2008
Posted to the web 29 February 2008

Sheriff Janko