WOMAD

Malick Pathé Sow

From Senegal

Baaba Maal sideman claims his share of the limelight
Sometimes the loyal foot soldiers can rise up through the ranks and earn a stripe or two for their own sleeve. So it was for Malick Pathé Sow, for many years the faithful sideman to Senegalese icon Baaba Maal but who, on moving to Belgium, stepped up the mic himself. Ever mindful of the traditional musician's responsibilities as both caretaker and librarian of centuries-old oral traditions, Malick's songs resonate with the theme of preservation - of language, of culture, of the environment. His music, particularly that showcased on his last, all-acoustic record Maayo Men, has a calm, timeless presence about it. Indeed - issues of technology aside - the soothing ensemble sound of guitar, hoddu lute, kora and nianiooru violin could surely have been recorded at any point in the last few centuries. As The Observer so rightfully called it, Malick "weaves a web of acoustic entrapment so subtle that it's a pleasure to get trapped in it".
(Biography by Nige Tassell
Photography by Dieter Telemans)

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