Sabouyouma
Sabouyouma is a high energy 7-piece polyrhythmic Afro-Funk groove machine led by Guinean-born Ousmane Camara: the band's front man, composer, and master Balafonist (the Balafon is a West-African marimba). If Camara is the heart and soul of Sabouyouma, then Senegalese percussionist Assane Coly is the backbone. With his fluency in the Senegalese vocal-drum language, and his religious roots in the Bayefal sect of Sufism, his rhythms often feel like percussive praise poetry that mystically conjurs the audience into motion.
Their upcoming EP features an all-star cast of special guests: Saxophonist Sylvester Uzoma Onyejiaka II (Prince & the New Power Generation), trumpeter Sean Smith (Super Yamba Band, Rubblebucket), vocalist Ismael 'Bonfils' Kouyate (Beyonce, Fela on Broadway), slide guitarist Brett Lanier (Barr Brothers), and Francesca Blanchard(Cumbacha Records).
Sabouyouma has opened for nationally touring acts like Xenia Rubinos, Polyrhythmics, Ikebe Shakedown, and Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, and has performed at music festivals that have become staples of the Vermont music scene: Frendly Gathering, Burlington Discover Jazz Fest, Waking Windows (Burlington VT and Portland ME), and The Manifestivus.
