After 14 years of collaborating with African musicians throughout the world, British bass player Edd Bateman brings us a live set from his latest project Edd Bateman’s West African Love Affair.
A debut album was recorded in London, Bristol, Salzburg and Sydney, and features collaborations between Edd and a talented cast of expert West African musicians, who between them have backed every major West African artist from Youssou N’Dour to Baba Maal, Salif Keita to Kanda Bongo Man.
The musicians are from Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Gambia, Cameroon, Congo, Cote D’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea and the album combines the relentless intoxicating soukous guitar with subtle Senegalese mbalax riffs over a Cameroonian backbeat. Together they join Edd as he sings in English and West African languages Wolof and Mandinka, playing the West African bass guitar.