BABA COMMANDANT AND THE MANDINGO BAND: Juguya (taken from the Juguya LP (Sublime Frequencies)) by Forced Exposure Publicity

ARTIST: BABA COMMANDANT AND THE MANDINGO BAND
TITLE: Juguya
LABEL: SUBLIME FREQUENCIES
FORMAT: LP
CAT#: SF 097LP
RELEASE: February 17, 2015

Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a contemporary group from Burkina Faso. Coming from Bobo-Dioulasso, the group is steeped in the Mandingue musical traditions of their ancestral legacy. The enigmatic lead singer Baba Commandant (Mamadou Sanou) is an original and eccentric character who is well respected in the Burkinabé musical community. A sort of punk Faso Dan Fani activist for traditional Mandingo music, Baba continues to redefine the boundaries between traditional and modern. In 1981, he joined the Koule Dafourou troupe as a dancer. Later, he embarked on his current musical direction as a singer, first in Dounia and then in the Afromandingo Band. His current band -- when he's not playing with the now-famous Burkinabé musician Victor Démé -- is the Mandingo Band. At present, he is a practitioner of the Afrobeat style, drawing inspiration from the golden era of Nigerian music. Fela Kuti/Africa 70 and King Sunny Adé are big influences, as is the legendary Malian growler Moussa Doumbia. Baba Commandant plays the ngoni, the instrument of the Donso (the traditional hunters in this region of Burkina Faso and Mali). His audience comprises multiple generations and strata of Burkinabé society; he accordingly adapts his repertoire to his surroundings, which range from cabaret Sundays in Bobo-Dioulasso to the sound systems of Ouagadougou. Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band are a formidable force steeped in Ouagadougou's DIY underground musical culture. Juguya is their sound. Limited edition LP housed in a Stoughton tip-on sleeve.

A1. Tilé
A2. Djanfa
A3. Waso
A4. Folon
B1. Ntijiguimorola
B2. I Kanafo
B3. Siguisso
B4. Juguya

- Sublime Frequencies presents its first release from Burkina Faso: a set of bracing Mandingo rock from contemporary Burkinabé group Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band.
- Enigmatic lead singer Baba Commandant (Mamadou Sanou) draws inspiration from Fela Kuti/Africa 70, King Sunny Adé, and Moussa Doumbia to craft a modern DIY Afrobeat sound with the ngoni, the traditional instrument of Burkinabé and Malian hunters.
- Juguya's release precedes a European tour planned for the spring of 2015.
- Limited edition LP housed in a Stoughton tip-on sleeve.