On this epic record, the 43-year-old journeyman Alune Wade is accompanied by his faithful band and a couple dozen guest stars who have been regular accomplices in the bass player's 37-year music career. This Dakarois musician began strumming guitar frets at six years old, egged on by an inspirational father who, at the time, was conducting Senegal's Symphonic Army Orchestra. Isma?l Lo's bass player, Samba Laob? N'Diaye, lent him his first bass guitar at five and, irony of sorts, he took over from N'Diaye's successor 12 years later. In 1999, he began his recording career at the singer's side for Lo's seminal albums, first with Jiguenand, two years on, Dabakh. This was just one of a list of collaborations Alune Wade enjoyed over the decades. They read like a Who's Who from the worlds of jazz and crossover music: Joe Zawinul, Marcus Miller, Oumou Sangare, Bobby McFerrin, Youssou N'Dour, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Harold Lopez-Nussa, Lokua Kanza, Blick Bassy, Fatoumata Diawara... the list goes on. And now to the present: "In 2018, I was fascinated by a potential meeting between the musics of East Africa - notably Ethiopia - and Egypt. My ensuing travels - and there were many - allowed me to meet artists from the diaspora that you find in New York and Paris. This dynamic melting pot was enriched by my passion for jazz, highlife and Afrobeat."