mark ernestus presents jeri-jeri: 800% ndagga

Polyrhythmic future-music, in a swinging Mbalax style.

press release: Jeri-Jeri is the stunning, spectacular collaboration between the renowned Berlin-based producer Mark Ernestus (Basic Channel) and a griot clan of Sabar drummers from Kaolack in Senegal, led by Bakane Seck, along with guest Mbalax musicians and vocalists -- including mainstays of the bands of Baaba Maal, Youssou N'Dour and other top Senegalese artists. Aficionados of cutting-edge world music and underground dance will have noted Ernestus' remixes of Afrobeat legend Tony Allen and Kinshasa rockers Konono No. 1, and his co-compilation (with Honest Jon's) of the critically-acclaimed Shangaan Electro showcase. On the quiet, though, he has become increasingly hooked on Mbalax with its hyper-vivid Sabar and talking-drum workouts, and ultra-repetitive, sick, sequencer-like marimba synths. In early 2011 he travelled to Senegal and Gambia, in search of original recordings. Through an unlikely set of coincidences, he ended up working in the legendary Dakar studio former known as Xippi, with more than 20 of the finest musicians in the country. The music here is a swingingly masterful style of Mbalax, heady and hard-grooving, with highly complex, fiercely succinct polyrhythms; an ancient-futuristic music, mesmeric but sharp as nails, super-charged with drama. Get ready to be knocked out.

Jeri-Jeri with Doudou Ndiaye Rose: Ndeye Gueye (clip)