Waitiki Rendezvous In Okonkuluku CD

' It's also the name of a hotel and artist retreat in Senegal, West Africa in the coastal town of Toubab Dialaw, a small fishing village about an hour south of Dakar. Tony Vacca, the leader of the world fusion band World Rhythms, of which I'm a member, invited me to join him as part of the Senegal-America Project, a group that works to bridge the two cultures. We spent a total of 12 days in early 2006 traveling with 17 people, mostly educators who teach about Africa in their classrooms but had never been there. This was my second trip to Africa; my first was to Ghana in 2000 to study drumming.

Sobobade is absolutely magical. Set on a small cliff overlooking the ocean, it is an artist's vision of an artistic paradise. Created by Haitian artist Gerard Chenet, it has a variety of buildings where people can rent rooms and all of the buildings are meticulously and beautifully covered with mosaics of shells and stone. Sculptures are everywhere you look, hidden among lush tropical plants in the courtyards. There is an outdoor amphitheater for performances, a restaurant and vendors selling masks, clothes, mud cloths, paintings and drums to the mostly European tourists. We arrived late at night. As I tumbled out of our overcrowded bus I instinctively felt we were somewhere special. I went to my room and began composing music immediately. Exotic places often have that affect on me. The piece I wrote that first night I called Sobobade in honor of the place. Each night after a full day of activities which included drumming, dancing, swimming and watching an amazing 20 member Senegalese dance company and 7 member drumming group prepare a new piece for performance, I would go back to my tiny room around midnight and begin composing. I wrote four pieces while I was there - Sobobade, Ndank Ndank ('Little By Little'), Dream Harder and Toubab ('White Man').

le. Originally intending to become a singer-guitarist, he soon realised that the place he lived in could never help him on his intent. That's why, after his irregular studies, he decided to move to somewhere else place.

In 1994 he went to Sanremo for a pop festival with Nicola Marogna then he played for a long time with Stefano Puddu in France recording a couple of albums for local labels (would be nice to find a copy of Zamballarana with Jerome Casalonga 15 elements ensemble).

During that period Canargiu played different styles such as blues at the Rocce Rosse and Blues Festival (as opening act for B.B.King and John Mayall) with his acoustic trio Walking blues or jazz with collaborators Federico Vassallo, Stefano Salis, Maso Spano, Vittorio Sicbaldi, Gianluca Corona, Alessandro Garau, Sandro Fontoni and many others, funk and rock with Silvano Lobina, Mauro Sanna, Davide Sanna, Michela Calabrese, Vittorio Pitzalis, Marcello Verona, Willy Saba...In 1998 he realised his first album with his name on called D'improvviso joining genial double bass player Federico Vassallo.