Into the sounds of Senegal, dazzling sabar flow and a whole lot more? Fofoulah are that bit distinctive and appear on Saturday night all being well. But the venue they are to play has been blighted by flooding as a result of ongoing building work nearby lately so hopefully the roof will not spring a leak again if the heavens open. It's Servant Jazz Quarters in Dalston where the griot's going on. And finding out the latest, marlbank popped in during their recent chess night and was alerted to the gig by Alice Passey who runs the place. Standing talking behind the bar Alice only broke off to join in a game of chess in a break, a new passion, she says, having got into the board game via the chess.com website. Servant Jazz is tiny. You go downstairs from street level on Bradbury Street for the live music. First on our radar in 2016 the barefooted pianist Sarah Tandy was in residence back then and was a fine bit of booking and high on the agenda of any self-respecting London jazz scenester to catch at that time. Unfortunately we have missed so far the great ex-Polar Bear/Andy Sheppard/Patti Smith drummer Seb Rochford's current residency but it continues, Alice says, with a collaboration featuring the fine Jazz Jamaica guitarist Shirley Tetteh and the Anthony Braxton and Lady Blackbird bassist Rochford's bandmate in Pulled by Magnets Neil Charles. Looking ahead to Saturday Fafoulah with their charismatic frontman the griot Batch Gueye from Senegal who sings in Wolof is teamed with not only the free-jazz saxophonist familiar to fans of the ECM and Babel labels Tom Challenger but also Robert Plant drummer Dave Smith among the line-up.
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