Living
Legacies
Sulay Sowe was born in 1965 in Banjul, The Gambia. He performs a song from his forthcoming album, which explores his journey in music over the last few years. He was joined by Aliou Kouyaté, who is from Casamance, Senegal and they performed an intimate and personal song amidst the banana grove/plants in his courtyard. Just as they began the song Sulay’s father entered the compound and he listened to the song for the first time. It was a highly personal moment for Sulay, which was captured in this rendition of the song.
Sulay has a long history of representing musicians in the Gambia and was involved in setting up and initiating the first musicians union in the country, whose mission was to empower and educate musicians about their rights as artists. Although he sang in Wolof and is steeped in that culture he has been highly influenced by Manding music, which was underlined by this acoustic collaboration. Sulay spoke passionately about leading a life that is conducive to the music and believes that music should be used to fuel one’s inner energy with purpose, direction and ambition regardless of status and economic circumstance.
Sulay Sowe
(Guitar & Voice)
