• Malick Pathé Sow is an extremely talented Senegalese singer and musician. Following loyal service as one of Baaba Maal’s main band members, he embarked on a solo career after arriving in Belgium. His new (and fourth) CD Maayo Men marks a return to his acoustic roots. It has been championed by Charlie Gillett and has received a 4-star review in the Observer Music Monthly, April 09.

• Malick Pathé Sow ia a member of the Senegalese Laawbe caste, instrument makers and musicians who have traditionally taken care of the oral transmission of knowledge between generations. The song Maayo Men (”our river”) pays tribute to the river Fuuta Toro, which forms a natural border between Senegal and Mauritania. After years of conflict, this waterway has become a meeting place where dugout canoes from the two counties pass each other peacefully.

• Malick’s vocal melodies are served with an hypnotic, instrumental mix cooked up by eleven fellow musicians playing the guitar, the hoddu (African lute), the kora (African harp), the nianiooru (African violin) and even the saz (Turkish lute), as well as bass, percussion and backing vocals.