Cheikh Lô

Cheikh Lô

Cheikh Lô is a Senegalese mbalax singer, songwriter and musician from Hauts-Bassins, Senegal, born in 1955. He works in mbalax, a Senegalese dance music style, and develops a more accessible version of it by blending in salsa, Zairian and Congolese rhumba, folk and jazz. His voice and arrangements are noted for combining acoustic guitar, prominent tama drumming and electric bass lines with a rounded vocal style.

Early life and musical development

Born Cheikh N'Digel Lô, he is the son of a successful jeweller. He grows up speaking Bambara, Wolof and French. As a young musician, he teaches himself drums and guitar. In 1976, he joins Orchestra Volta Jazz as a percussionist and stays with the group until moving to Dakar in 1980.

After moving to the Senegalese capital, he becomes active in the local music scene. He spends three years as drummer for the progressive vocalist Ouza, then joins the house band at the Hotel Savana in 1984. That engagement lasts a little over a year and exposes him to a broad range of pop music influences.

France, first recordings and early setbacks

He moves to France in 1985 and works in Paris as a session drummer. He soon buys his first guitar and begins writing songs. In 1987, he forms a band with Ivoirean and French musicians and starts work on an album, but the group breaks up before it is finished. His debut solo album, Doxandeme (Immigrants), is released as a cassette in 1990 and earns a Nouveau Talent award, though he is dissatisfied with the result. He begins a second album but abandons the project and keeps a low profile for the next four years.

Breakthrough and later releases

In 1995, he persuades Youssou N'Dour, whom he met in 1989 while playing on an album by the Wolof griot singer N'diaga M'baye, to produce a new record. The resulting album, Ne La Thiass, is released on N'Dour's Jololi label. Shortly before that release, he joins the multi-artist Jololi Revue tour in November 1996. In April 1997, he tours Europe with his own eight-piece band, N'Diguel, while promoting the album.

He receives Best Newcomer and Kora All-American awards in South Africa in 1997. In 1998, he appears as a featured performer with Africa Fete in the United States. The following year, he receives the Ordre National de Merite de Leon from the president of Senegal. He returns to recording in 2000 with Bambay Gueej, a title that means “bamba, ocean of peace”; the album is co-produced by Nick Gold and Youssou N'Dour. Lamp Fall follows in 2006 on Nonesuch Records.