Senegals grammy nominated producer Habib Faye going to STING JAMWORLD with ESSAY TRAINEDSOLDIER

Essay TrainedSoldier going down to STING 2015 with hes crew which also includes top producer Habib Faye from Senegal. Essay plan to give the audience in Jamaica a taste of Afrobeat mixed with Dancehall & Reggae.

Background of producer Habib Faye:

The talented Senegalese bass player known for his percussive style of playing and his consummate arrangement skills.

Habib Faye - Bass player, guitar player, keyboardist, composer and Grammy-nominated producer, Habib Faye has been the musical director for the Youssou N'Dour band for the past 25 years. He has arranged and produced most of the band’s albums since 1986. A celebrated African bass player, who counts Brandford Marsalis, Joe Zawinul and Darryl Jones among his fans,

Faye has gigged, recorded and/or toured with renowned artists such as Mickey Hart, Manu Katché, Joe Zawinul, Paco Sery, Gilberto Gil, Chet Atkins, Mark Knopfler, Brandford Marsalis, Poogie Bell, David Sancious, Lionel Loueke, Tania St. Val, Jacob Desvarieux, David Sanborn, Mokhtar Samba, Carlinhos Brown and Angélique Kidj. The list is long. 

Additionally, his imprint on Senegalese music is indelible and is evidenced by the scores of albums he produced or co-produced with Senegalese artists such as Kine Lam, Ndongo Lo, Viviane Chedid N’Dour, just to name a few. 

Known as one of the most gifted African bass players of the last couple of decades, he is one of the champions of a new type of fusion that blends jazz with African rhythms to attain a more accessible sound without profaning the spirit of jazz. Habib Faye follows in the footsteps of fellow African bass players, Richard Bona and MBappé, who have taken the sounds of Cameroon beyond its borders and expose them to other rhythms and tempos.

An amazing talent

Habib grew up in Dakar, Senegal, within a family of musicians. His dad, a teacher, played the guitar as a hobby. His brothers are well known musicians in Senegal. Lamine Faye is one of the most popular and respected guitarists in the country. Adama Faye is one of the pioneers of keyboard playing in the West African country. Moustapha Faye is a keyboardist. Vieux Mac Faye, an accomplished guitarist and pioneer of "Joolof blues" (cocktail of African melodies and blues, taught Habib to play the guitar at age 9 and set off his musical exploration. Habib then picked up the bass at age 13.

He soon became the talk of the town as mainstream artists started taking notice of his talent. But it was his impromptu and no less mesmerizing performance at a Toure Kunda concert in Dakar in the early 80’s that introduced him to the public. That day, he came to the concert as a spectator but ended up subbing for Super Diamono star bass player, Bob Sene at the request of Ismaël Lo and his brother Lamine Faye. He was 15. His performance generated a lot of buzz and Youssou N’Dour was listening.

25 years with Youssou N'Dour

In 1984, just days before graduating from highschool, Habib got an offer he could not resist and that came from none other than African super star Youssou N’Dour. Habib Faye joined the Youssou N'Dour band, Super Etoile, as bass player and quickly became the band’s arranger/producer. 

With Habib, Super Etoile revolutionized Senegalese music, refined and modernized the sound of Mbalax, the national popular dance music of Senegal derived from “sabar” drumming. The band created a rootsy Afropop sound with jazz, rock, soul and funk undertones that has proven to be the most popular music style in the country. Habib has arranged/produced most of Super Etoile’s work.

Music critic Robert Christgau called Super Etoile “the best live band in the world.” The band has performed all over the world for the past 25 years or so, headlining concerts, opening for Peter Gabriel during his European/American tour in 1987 and playing at the Woodstock Festival in 1994. The band also played along side Sting, Tracy Chapman and Bruce Springsteen during Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now tour. Habib has called this experience life-altering musically as it made him a better musician.

A passionate musician

Habib Faye has been very active in instituting an alternative stage in Dakar, in an effort to free the Senegalese musical landscape from the grips of mainstream Mbalax which has suffered a creativity gap in the past few years. An accomplished musician, multi-instrumentalist and perfectionist, Habib is always exploring new ways of making African music “elaborate, well-thought out and unadulterated,” as he puts it. His work has already been recognized as he was awarded the much coveted Chevalier de l'Ordre du Lion, Senegal’s highest civil honor, for his distinguished service to the nation in the arts.