Pursuing a career spanning fve decades, never restng on his laurels, always
on the move, Eric Bibb has a full bag of stories to tell from around the world.
So, here comes Global Griot, global indeed, recorded in France, Sweden, Jamaica,
Ghana, Canada, the UK and the US! If the expression “World Music” were not
so problematc and much misused as a marketng tool it would suit
Eric’s approach. But don’t get it wrong: He is frst and foremost a “blues
brother”- an old school bluesman who fnds ways to expand his domain. Along his
journey he’s been fortunate enough to meet incredibly talented musicians who
he regards as kindred spirits. Some of them have been reunited for this album
such as Sweden’s guitar ace Stafan Astner, reggae legend Ken Boothe from
Jamaica, top-drawing Americans Big Daddy Wilson, Harrison Kennedy, Michael
Jerome Browne, Linda Tillery of Cultural Heritage Choir fame and two remarkable
West African musicians – Malian guitarist/singer Habib Koite (who contributed
so much to the success of “Brothers In Bamako”) and the Senegalese Solo
Cissokho whose omnipresent kora playing is one of the beautes of this
double-disc album. And let’s not forget wife Ulrika Bibb contributng celestal
harmonies.
This is Eric’s most collaboratve work to date with all songs (besides four
traditonal tunes and two covers) sharing writng credits with various musicians
involved in the album. The two covers were originally recorded in the ‘50’s:
Ed McCurdy’s “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream” was an anthem of the
peace movement. Children were flmed singing it at the destructon of the Berlin
Wall and it was covered by (among others) Simon & Garfunkel and Johnny Cash.
Big Bill Broonzy’s “Black, Brown and White” was his most commited song,
alas stll relevant nowadays. As Eric tells us in “Hoist Up The Banner”:
“I don’t think of myself as a fag waver and here I am, wavin’ this
one” – because he felt he had to, confronted with the ugly rhetoric
spreading like prairie fres, here and there. Always the entertainer, the
educator and the motvator, Eric Bibb, more than ever, contnues to resonate with
what is currently happening in the world today
