Afrissippi - Fulani Journey (2005)

Afrissippi's debut album, FULANI JOURNEY, tells the story of GUELEL KUMBA, a singer-songwriter from the delta of Senegal, West Africa. Kumba moved to Oxford, Mississippi, in 2001 where he jammed with ERIC DEATON, apprentice to the late R.L. Burnside. The two discovered the similarities between the hill country blues of North Mississippi and Kumba's traditional Senegalese melodies, and the nucleus of Afrissippi was born. On FULANI JOURNEY they enlist the region's finest including drummers Cedric Burnside & Kinney Kimbrough, wildman Jimbo Mathus, sax legend Herman Green, and the Taylor Grocery Band.

Recorded in two nights with no overdubs at Mathus's Delta Recording Service in Clarksdale, Mississippi, FULANI JOURNEY shows the head-on collision between Kumba's music and the full-throttle drive of its descendant, the hill country blues of North Mississippi. This enhanced cd also includes a special behind-the-scenes film shot & directed by Scotty Glahn, director of BEANLAND: RISING FROM THE RIVERBED as a bonus track. The film features a rap by Afrissippi's high priest poet, the legendary JOHN SINCLAIR, as the band channels the "future primitive" vibe of Mathus's studio.

"FULANI JOURNEY is one of the most original & explosive world boogie albums of the year!