One of my favorite people, Ashley Maher is leaving Monday for Dakar, Senegal to record her 5th album at Jimi Mbaye’s Studio Dogo.
Ashley bought Jimi a new Mac Pro for his studio to help pay for her studio time. Getting it there was quite a saga. Jimi was supposed to pick it up in Washington, DC when he was supposed to perform with Youssou N’dour, but he was randomly denied a visa. It ended up flying to Paris before finally arriving safely in Dakar. I’m sure Jimi will do some great work with it.
Ashley is a great dancer as well as a great singer. Her Sabar dancing skills have made her a star in Senegal. Her dance videos are some of the most popular at Seneweb.com.
On a related note, I finally watched Xala by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene, one of the movies on my “bucket list”. Even though it was in French & Wolof, I enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately in a few scenes the white subtitles were on a white background, making them difficult to read. The music was great, featuring Star Band de Dakar.
