Alune Wade at Cedar Cultural Center (Nov 19, 2025)

If the birth of jazz started in the city of New Orleans, then an argument can be made that the seeds of the birth came from Africa. At least that is the belief of Alune Wade.

Alune is from Dakar, Senegal and currently living in Paris, France. He is the son of a military band leader, who displayed his father’s musical talents at an early age. By age 13 the bass became his chosen instrument. By 17 he was playing in his fathers band. A year later he was on the road, touring the world with the great Senegalese musician Ismale Lo. Presently his musical exploration of the roots of jazz continues with his sixth album New African Orleans, a transglobal exploration that seeks to connect African music with the music of New Orleans.

Instead of an opening act, Wade shared part (only 30 minutes) of Tukki: From Roots to the Bayou, a documentary of the making of his latest album. In the brief, the documentary was fascinating for it showed how much of African cultural survived the Transatlantic slave trade, mainly due to the fact that New Orleans was the only place in the United States that gave their slaves a day off (Sunday) to practice their customs. And it was in Congo Square that Africans gathered to germinate the musical seeds that would become jazz.

To me this was Jazz 101, but what I didn’t fully know is how this new American music took root in Africa after World War II when many African countries instituted military bands with the backbone of the music being jazz. And it was this music, played by his father, that Wade has incorporated into his own West African style.

After the documentary Wade took the stage with Cédric Douchemann on keyboards, Victor Ademofe on trumpet and talking drums, Harry Ahonlonsou on tenor and soprano saxophones, and Alix Goffic holding down the fort on drums.

Earlier this year I noted that Las Guaracheras were the “best dressed” band I had seen at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. I will now say that Alune Wade is the coolest musician I’ve seen all year. First of all, he led a band on a bass guitar, which never happens. Second, his outfit, with a beret and reflective sunglasses, made him look as cool as any of those cats from the Be-Bop era. Third, the music was a perfect blend of Afro Beat and jazz that made you want to stand up right away and start dancing.

“How do you feel,” Wade asked after the band just finished their interpretation of Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man.” He then talked about his new album and how he was proud of its scope, telling the audience that he recorded in the cities of Paris, Dakar, Lagos and New Orleans with musicians from Africa and the United States. And even though his outfit gave an air of militancy, he talked about how we tend to glorify the hunter in our stories, but this album was dedicated to the hunted, adding, “We want to tell our story. But now we play music.”

And that’s what they did, whether it was a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” to the infectious “Boogie and Juju” that got many out of their seats. Wade did sing here and there, but most of the songs relied on the musicians on stage. The bass is primarily a support instrument, and for the most part Wade held to the tradition, giving his mates plenty of opportunities to showcase their skill. But like I said in my prior review of the Wood Brothers, people go crazy for bass solos. And Wade did not disappoint, slipping in brief licks with a soulful touch as well as prodigious skill. But mostly he led the band as most bandleaders of jazz do. By making sure everyone is heard and working towards a common dialogue, or as one of the musical historians in the earlier documentary said, “You talk. I listen. I respond. That’s life. That’s jazz.”