African musicians in Norway - Mandingo Trio

New Mandingo Trio’s maxi single.

The new Mandingo Trio’s maxi single due to be released on 7th June in Oslo, Norway, is another milestone in contemporary African music. With three solid tracks, Mandingo Trio, which comprises of three highly seasoned African musicians living in Norway, is ushering in a new era of musical cooperation between East and West African musicians. An era that is long overdue, one might say.

The opening track, Aline Sitoe, is a tribute to a great African woman who resisted colonial rule. The song also touches on the negative consequences of slavery and colonialism. Jali Nyama Suso is a salute to the Gambian musician. Jali Nyama Suso, who passed away in 1991, is considered as one of the greatest kora players in our living memory, while The Second Poem – War on Terror is an outcry against social and political injustices that belie the world today.

Mandingo Trio uses kora, djembe, dun dun and kenkeni drums. The group’s vocal arrangements and harmonies are unique. All the three musicians are talented singers and instrumentalists. These are Aliou Cissoko from Senegal (kora, vocals), Ali Jabang from Gambia (djembe and vocals) and Nasibu aka Ras Nas from Tanzania (dun dun, kenkeni and vocals).

Mandingo Trio’s style is dancehall traditional in that the music is swinging and can seamlessly be included in any DJ’s play list. It is urban and contemporary while at the same time retaining the rawness that is unfortunately absent in most of today’s music productions from the continent. The group uses Swahili, Mandingo and English languages in their songs and poetry.

In this CD, Mandingo Trio has also used additional musicians like Uriel Seri, one of the absolutely best drummers from Ivory Coast, Said Rifay on bass (Morocco) and Ketil Kielland Lund on keyboards (Norway).

The CD was originally recorded at InnerCity Studio and additional recordings were done at Studio Maghreb. Mixing and mastering was done by Jock Loveband at Urban Sound Studio. Jock Loveband has previously worked with Special Aka and the Bhundu Boys.

The maxi single is produced by Kongoi Productions.

For interviews or other enquiries contact
Kongoi Productions
www.kongoi.com

Tlf: +41 62 89 37