Modou Touré and Ramon Goose – The West African Blues Project Drinking Moroccan mint tea in a London’s Moroccan café is not guaranteed to result in the creation and production of a world-class West African blues album, unless you happen to be Modou Touré and Ramon Goose. In which case, drinking mint tea goes to a whole new level: The West African Blues Project. The West African Blues Project is a new collaboration between Senegalese vocalist Modou Touré and Brit blues maestro Ramon Goose that came together relatively effortlessly. In Ramon’s own words: ‘I was struck by Modou as a very quiet, humble and polite young man, yet when he is on stage – he’s the opposite! At our first meeting I played him some of my musical ideas; we both laughed as he instantly felt at home and started singing some wonderful ideas to the music I had come up with.’ Touré’s vocals glide effortlessly over Ramon’s masterfully placed guitar blues riffs in the outstanding track We Walk in the Sahara, in which Touré’s vocals transport one into and over the vast and ever-changing dune landscape of the Saharan desert, in which one wrong turn could be fatal. All songs on The West African Blues Project are sung in Wolof, Mandinka and French and co-composed and arranged by Modou Touré and Ramon Goose. Here we have a landscape that is both vast and varied: Journey to Casamance; the Saharan Dune Blues; a joyously uptempo song about a children’s game played in Senegal – Lolambe; the warrior song Kayre which depicts a fight for freedom and liberty, while Believe celebrates creation. In Dune Blues, Modou sings of an ancient past that still bears relevance today, dedicating this song to the spirit of West African teachers and their ways. Western Comfort gives warning to Africans who forget that the important things in life can be found in Africa and who look to the west as a place of comfort. Modou Touré inherited his vocal strength from his father, Ousmane Touré, who sang for a time with Senegalese band Touré Kunda. Touré Kunda were perhaps best noted for popularizing Senegalese world music, performing and singing in 6 languages during a career that spanned 30 years and included collaborations with musical legends Carlos Santana and Talking Heads. Modou Touré clearly continues his father’s love for West African music & traditions on The West African Blues Project. For Ramon Goose, this is the latest in a series of successful collaborations including Mansana Blues [a Downbeat Magazine poll winner] with kora superstar Diabel Cissokho and Drew with Mississippi Blues singer Boo Boo Davies – a ‘Mojo Magazine’ Top 10 Blues album. Ramon Goose has also toured/ recorded with musical legends such as James Brown’s saxophonist Alfred ‘Pee Wee’ Ellis, Louisiana blues legend Chris Thomas King, Eric Bibb and blues harmonica player Charlie Musslewhite. The West African Blues Project is masterful blues collaboration, German release June 30th through da music.