www.eddbateman.com

My musical career started when I borrowed a bass at the age of 12 to form a heavy metal band with my mates. Later, at 14 I was jamming away when there was a knock on the door. Two Zimbabwean musicians at my neighbour’s house had just arrived in the country and needed a bassist. They didn't speak a lot of English but taught me some riffs. I'd never heard African music before but they seemed impressed by how quickly I learnt their traditional style. I had my debut 2 hour gig 11 days later with Chimanimani and went on to play at the Africa Centre in Covent Garden before I was 15. We performed throughout the country at venues like the Eden Project (2005) and many festivals including Glastonbury (2007). I also gigged in that period with other Zimbabwean groups, reggae bands and a Swaziland jazz ensemble.

In 2006 I began teaching bass at Plymouth City College, where I'd previously received a BTEC National Diploma in Modern Music. In Devon I was gigging with various soul bands at corporate events and Ministry of Defence functions at naval bases like HMS Drake and HMS Raleigh but this wasn’t creatively challenging enough for me.  So in 2008 I relocated from small Devon town Tavistock to Bristol in search of fortune and fame and began regularly playing with 10 different bands. A typical gigging month would be performing with no less than 7 different groups – jazz trios, quartets, African and Middle Eastern bands – in bars, arts centres, residencies and belly dance festivals as well as a fair amount of depping. In Bristol I met composer and producer Hill Briggs whom I've recorded with extensively on jazz funk projects and albums.

In November 2009 at an African Music Festival at Bristol's St Georges Hall, I was introduced to kora player Mamadou N Cissokho, who after hearing me play invited me to his house in Senegal. Although I knew nothing about West African music, I wanted to expand my knowledge of the different styles this vast continent has to offer and so, 6 weeks later I arrived in Africa and took a bush taxi to his house in the Casamance (Southern Senegal).

2010

I saw in the New Year on stage performing at Abene Festival, first with Mahere and Sousou Cissokho and then 2 days later closing with headline act Solo Cissokho and Jalikunda. (See You Tube clip of the Jalikunda family band.)

Before arriving in Senegal I had no idea that all Mamadou’s brothers and uncles are musicians and in fact some of the best kora players in the country. Fortunately for me, most of them needed a bass player, and as well as many gigs, I travelled to the Gambia for recording sessions with Mahere & Sousou Cissokho and Sadio Cissokho for a Casamance artists’ compilation album.

In February a chance meeting with Omar Pene's Super Diamono Band led me to take another bush taxi ride 12 hours north to Dakar to play some of the jazz I'd missed since working with the diatonically tuned kora.

After returning home I spent the Spring and Summer recording and gigging in England and Spain with Jazz, Congolese and Senegalese bands. I was also performing with and managing Zimbabwean band Bulawayo, which took us to venues like The Southbank Centre for the London African Music Festival.

I also found time to organise a 2 month UK tour, starting in October for Sadio Cissokho’s band (who I had worked with most in Senegal), including arranging visas, work permits, flights, accommodation, travel etc (and of course playing). First we recorded the album 'Sila Fando', before playing 24 concerts and facilitating Mandinka singing workshops all over the UK and Sweden.

After the tour I returned to Senegal for the winter and performed with 14 different bands including Seckou Keita, popular Dakar groups like Alias Diallo, Cheikh Lo and Orchestra Baobab and even opened for Salif Keita in front of a crowd of 10,000 which was broadcast live on Senegalese national television.

2010 Studio Albums I’ve played on:

• Casamance Nocturne Vibrations – Sadio Cissokho, Mahere & Sousou Cissokho
• Lamlela – Bulawayo
• Sabou – Mamadou N Cissokho
• Sila Fando – Sadio Cissokho and the Golden Kora Band

 

Play some of my music