Justin Time /

No
Title
Duration
Excerpts
01
Blue Muse
00:08:59
ogg      mp3      
02
Evidence
00:05:58
ogg      mp3      
03
One World Family
00:08:42
ogg      mp3      
04
Too Many Hungry People
00:05:16
05
Chant Africain
00:06:59
06
Abdoul Aziz Sy
00:06:29
07
Village Urbana
00:07:15
08
Thilo
00:06:20

Liner Notes

Mixed styles are in fashion, and we lost track of the number of American musicians exploring the origins of rhythm and the roots of groove. Unfortunately, fusion is often accomplished in the laboratory, under the grandiose auspices of sampling. In contrast, David Murray's achievement is organic. Fo deuk is the result of a flesh and blood meeting, of real friendship and collaboration. Let's go back to the origins of this multicultural project, so very groovily jazz.

It is the end of May 1996, and the David Murray Trio arrives in Dakar. For David, professional Saxophone player since the age of 14, dubbed "King David" by the American critics, the visit to Dakar is not his first He had already recorded the poignant "Dakar to Darkness" after his first trip, after visiting Gorée Island and its sinister slave caves. This time the trip would take him further still. Through Mamadou Konté of Africa Fête, David and his musicians (bass player Jamaaladeen Tacuma, drummer Darryl Burgee and pianist Robert Irving III) met several of the best-known bands on the Dakar music scene: rappers Positive Black Soul, the Dieuf Dieul band and singer Hamet Maal (Baaba Maal's brother). And, of course, the godfather of percussion groove, the master of sabars, Doudou N'Diaye Rose. It was during a magical concert performance at the Théâtre de la Verdure on Gorée Island that the concept of Fo deuk took concrete shape. For over two hours, the Murray trio reinvented fusion jazz, guided by the beat of Dieuf Dieul, Positive Black Soul and the response from a spellbound audience. All that remained to be done was to entrust Studio 2000 in Dakar with the recording of what was still a dream, a utopia like so many in the world of music. In the studio, once a few unforeseen problems were solved (it was the first time that Dieuf Dieul recorded in a studio), the meshing of African and jazz cultures resulted in a rhythmic back and forth. One World Family and its saxophone convolutions mixed with Dieuf Dieul's groove and with Doug E. Tee and Didier Awadi's (Positive Black Soul) imprecations, Chant Africain, in which Doudou N'Diaye Rose and a Dakar children's choir portray an ideal Africa, Tidiane Gaye's voice (Dieuf Dieul's singer) which highlights Abdoul Aziz Sy, Evidence and its text written by Amiri Baraka... The pieces chosen by Fo deuk are live in more than one sense and, since David Murray is a utopian who pursues his dreams to the end, the Fo deuk adventure continues live on stage in 1997, with a collection of New York and Dakar artists. In fact, Fo deuk means "where do you come from?" in Wolof. By taking part in this transcontinental event, the musicians who bring us this African jazz cocktail have answered the question. Everything comes from the groove.

Olivier Cachin