Yela
The opening track of Lam Toro.
Baaba Maal, from Lam Toro (1992)
- Written by
- Baaba Maal
- Released
- 1992
- Album
- Lam Toro
Yela is the first track on Lam Toro and runs 4:14. Eric Clermontet produced it. The word names a kind of griot music. Maal, who was not born a griot, told the Guardian that Seck's friendship let the griots allow him to touch some of it, and that without Seck he would never have been called the King of Yela. Swing Yela on Firin' in Fouta, with Positive Black Soul, is a separate song.
At the Union Chapel in London on 1 May 2018, in a show billed as his first solo concert, Maal played a new version of Yela that began with a wash of electronica from the multi-instrumentalist Cheikh Ndoye. Yela appears in 4 of the 12 logged setlists that list songs.
On stage
- 2018-05-01, Union Chapel, London A new version opened with electronica from Cheikh Ndoye, in what was billed as Maal's first solo show.
More songs by Baaba Maal
Sidiki, African Woman, Sama Duniya, Souka Nayo (I Will Follow You), Fulani Rock
Sources
- Mansour Seck obituary, The Guardian (2024-06-14)
- Baaba Maal review: Senegalese superstar goes back to basics, The Guardian (2018-05-01)
- Firin' in Fouta, Wikipedia