BOSS in Africa

Adventures of a BR-864 Digital Studio

Abu Djigo

Here at BOSS, we love getting letters from folks who use our gear — especially when they write to share a success story or an account of how their BOSS equipment was used in interesting and/or unusual ways and places. Like this one … sent by Gary Nelson of Berkeley, California.

Dear BOSS,

I just had the experience of my life, recording traditional West African instruments in Dakar, Senegal, with my BOSS BR-864. Here’s a brief account of how well all my BOSS equipment worked in the field:

Abu and Gary

Abu Djigo and I, together with my lyricist/wife Deborah Barer, have been writing world-acoustic songs for 2-1/2 years. I met Abu three years ago, and gradually he and I developed a deep and magnetic musical relationship, exploring the links between my blues, rock, and reggae background and his superb jazz, West African, and Brazilian guitar skills.

For our new Abu & Gary CD, World Blues, Abu’s concept was to record nine of our songs with traditional West African instruments in Senegal. Several dear and supportive friends, who believe in the power and potential of our music, made it possible for me to purchase a BOSS BR-864 portable 8-track digital recorder, a 1GB compact flash card, two condenser microphones, an extra mike stand, and a step-down transformer to convert French-style 220V power down to 110V. I left for Dakar, Senegal.

BOSS BR-864

One of the top-notch musicians we recorded was West African harp (kora) master Babou Laye, currently featured on Youssou n’ Dour’s critically acclaimed CD Egypt. Three days after he tracked his parts, Babou Laye was on the television, accompanying the Minister of Culture of Brazil as he sang for the presidents of Senegal and Brazil.

Attached are photos from the trip, which would not have been possible without BOSS technology and sound quality. We have been plugging BOSS every day, because people are amazed how good the sound is of our upcoming CD.

Sincerely,
Gary Nelson, Abu & Gary
www.CosmoMusic.com