Kondi Band, the unique afro-fusion specialists from Sierra Leone who weave the delicate sounds of the kondi (Sierra Leonan thumb piano) with dynamic contemporary instrumentals this June stamped the wax on their debut LP ‘Salone’. The band were brewed by an inspired coming together of Freetown’s kondi specialist Sorie Kondi and US producer DJ Chief Boima (also with Sierra Leonean origins) after Boima remixed Sorie’s original track ‘Without Money No Family’, struck by its beautiful melodies and socially conscious lyrics. We’ve been following the duo closely ever since they dropped their original dancefloor hit Belle Wahallah – as moody as it is funky – back in May of last year accompanied by their simmering mid-tempo anthem on the B-side ‘Yeanoh (Powe Handa Blingabe)’. The two tracks open the album and set the tone for a fascinating exploration of ‘acoustic dance music’.
In the words of Boima, the new album “forges a direct link between techno born in the black cities of the American Mid-West, where I grew up, and roots African music. Sorie Kondi may be playing an acoustic folk instrument from Sierra Leone, but he thinks about music as if he were a techno producer.” Salone is out now on CD, 2LP, and digital formats on the mighty Strut Records.