Babamadu - Bitama by Biboul Darouiche, Roberto Di Gioia, Adrian Mears

Biboul Darouiche:

I started playing music at home in Cameroon. My older brother Joe already had a band and my father bought lot´s of instruments for us to play with. Our mother taught us many african songs so there was always music around. When I was twelve years old we moved to the middle east for one year and then to Europe. I was fourteen and still going to school when I had my first small gigs. One year later I was already playing with Connexion Latina, so without ever thinking about it I became a professional musician. After my time in Munich I moved to Copenhagen and played there with different groups such as Pierre Dorge´s Jungle Orchestra. I also started teaching and I formed a band with my brothers, the Voodoo Gang. Denmark was my home for several years, I also have two kids there. from Copenhagen I moved to Paris where I stayed for two years, and through playing with african musicians I got back more into my own roots. Paris was a good school for me. I had so many gigs and did many recordings there but it was mostly african pop music , like Zoukus or Makossa. I really liked it, but only playing Makossa drives you crazy. So I thought why not move back to Munich, it´s more quiet and relaxed than the Paris afro-scene. Well, here I met Adrian on a Salsa gig. Ialready knew Roberto from a earlier visit to Munich and we met again playing together in Klaus Doldingers Passport. So the three of us decided to do a trio. We booked a recording date, just like that, I wasn´t even sure we were gonna do it, but then it really happened!

Adrian Mears:

I started playing euphonium in the local brass band in my hometown, Newcastle, Australia. then I switched to trombone, because I wanted to play in more different styles. Well, in Australia you have to be able to play a lot of different styles, from Bebop to Funk, Latin and even Dixi, if you want to survive as a musician. Anyway, I felt I had to come to Europe to further my career (and to be closer to my girlfriend). On my first night in Munich, as a tourist, I went to the Jazzclub Unterfahrt and heard a band which included Peter O´mara and Roberto di Gioia. I thought to myself that´s an amazing group, an incredible pianist. Does this happen every night in Munich? I was really impressed by the level of music and how the public appreciates modern jazz. Well, I stayed in Munich for six weeks played some gigs, and when I decided to move to Europe I came back here, people
remembered me and I had to work immediately. Through lucky circumstance I met Johannes Enders and we formed our own group. We did a great Cd for Enja together with Joey Calderazo, Ed Howard and Ronnie Burrage. I´ve had some success with my own groups and have had the opportunity to play with people like McCoy Tyner´s Big Band, Peter O´mara, Andy Scherrer and many others. When I met Biboul there was immediately this musical trust and understanding, the same I already felt with Roberto. Musically speaking it´s one of the most beautiful experiences I´ve had to this day. To feel that they are always there and that I don´t have to think too much, makes the music just a very simple and easy form of expression. Everybody can communicate and it creates some real magic or as Biboul would say: there is some serious Voodoo happening

Roberto Di Gioia:

My parents gave me a little keyboard when I was four years old and from that moment on the piano was always a part of my live. I started off by playing simple songs that I picked up from the radio. Later I taped all kinds of music, from the Beatles to Modern Jazz Quartet and I learned to play them by ear. I got a lot of support from my parents and my teachers, I also received classical training and attended "Musisches Gymnasium". Next door to my school there was a jazz club and since I was 14 I went there all the time. There were no other piano players around so I had the chance to play with some very good musicians. When I moved to Munich I was once again very lucky, I got a job in Roman Schwaller´s band and that opened up a lot of other possibilities. Later on, together with Wolfgang Haffner and Thomas Stabenow, we formed a rhythm section that backed some American jazz giants. It was like going to school again, I toured through-out Europe with Moody Shaw, James Moody, Johnny Griffin, and later Tom Harrel, Buster Williams and many others. Klaus Doldinger´s Passport was one of the first bands where I didn´t play straight-ahead jazz. Babamadu now goes one step further by including not only jazz and funk elements but also ethnic music which I´ve always been interested in.

Tracklist

1.	Jugulu	3:54

2.	Funkapocalyse	4:25

3.	Schwaia Schwaia	2:08

4.	Kiala	5:33

5.	Intuition Unexplored	7:34

6.	Dance Of The Primitive Instinct	2:12

7.	Constantly Risking Reality	10:30

8.	Concrete Jungle	9:14

9.	Joy and Resolution	5:59

10.	Village Song	8:58

11.	Bitama	2:23

12.	Sabah	5:03

Credits

released March 11, 1998

All Compositions by Biboul Darouiche / Roberto di Gioia / Adrian Mears

Biboul Darouiche: percussion, calimba, african harp, vocals
Roberto di Gioia: fender rhodes, percussion, saz, acoustic piano, vocals
Adrian Mears: trombone, didgeridoo, percussion, electronics, vocals

Produced by: Babamadu
Engineer: Michael Müller
Rec. Date: 17th of May, 1995
Location: Kemaya Studio, Munich, Germany
Photographies: Sylvia Grom
Cover Design: Roberto di Gioia + H.P.P.

Special thanks to:
William Nfor, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, Bitama, Darouiche Family, Di Gioia Family, Cordula, Mears Family, Arnold, Sylvia, Pia Schmitt, Michael Müller, Potthast Family, the Scales Brothers, die Mühls, Nkruma, Frei Family, MDD, Julia, the seeking spirit of Nichiren Daishonin.

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