brussels airlines
b.spirit! magazine
nov-dec
{ 32 }
Samuel Bangura and Ibrahim Jalloh practice playing palm wine songs on the guitar at the Diamond Child School of Arts and Culture
Seydu’s own musical roots are rich and diverse. Born in the
east end of Freetown among the creole sounds of the fishery
dockyard, Seydu grew up listening to the great palm wine artists
of the 70s and 80s.
His grandfather Ebeneze Calender was renowned for his
melodic palm wine songs, a rich mixture of calypso rhythms
brought by freed slaves from the Caribbean and the indigenous
beats of the inland Mandingo, Mende, and Fullah tribes.
Seydu started playing local instruments at the age of six. By
ten he was performing with the National Dance Troupe. At
thirteen he snuck onto a fishing boat headed for Europe and two
years later found himself in Las Palmas, Spain. From busking on
Madrid’s streets to Seville where he played with some of Spain’s
most celebrated musicians, Seydu has since worked with the
likes of Stevie Wonder, Youssou N’dour and Julio Iglesias.
Despite his musical adventures and acclaim in Europe, Seydu
keeps coming home. “I missed the place,” he says. “And my
memories draw me back.”
He divides his time between Spain and Sierra Leone, with
plans to build a recording studio and a media production
workshop for young Sierra Leoneans to produce their creative
work. “When I see the kids at Diamond Child playing an
instrument or taking an interest in understanding the sound it is
producing, I see myself.”
And in this reflection he sees the opportunity to create joy.
Felicity Thompson is a writer, photographer and filmmaker
based in Sierra Leone
Brussels Airlines flies to Freetown twice weekly
IMAGE
FELICITY THOMPSON
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