Super Somali Sounds From The Gulf Of Tadjoura

The Gulf of Tadjoura is a basin of the Indian Ocean in the Horn of Africa, south of the entrance to the Red Sea. It's an area rich in natural flora and fauna, with a bustling and lively music scene to match, as proven by this new compilation on Ostinato's Djibouti Archives series. It all features a 40 person Somali ensemble of dancers, actor, musicians, percussionists and singers called 4 Mars (named after the founding date of The People's Rally for Progress in 1997. The group served as house band for that collective and here show their sound is full of soulful and sassy grooves that tend to go slow but build you up big. Elements of African, Asia and Mediterranean culture all permeate the tracks, some of which are studio recordings, other live performances.