GASTON BANDIMIC - vocals (Wolof)
HPRIZM - vocals (English)
STEVE LEHMAN - alto saxophone, sequencing
MACIEK LASSERRE - soprano saxophone, sequencing
CARLOS HOMS - keyboards, piano
DREW GRESS - acoustic bass
DAMION REID - drums

Lehman’s music has always drawn from disparate sources in distinctive ways, but with Sélébéyone, he takes an unexpected turn: drawing, from modern jazz, Senegalese rap, live electronics, and underground hip-hop, to create a unique form of urban experimentalism.

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The musical relationships underpinning Sélébéyone are also decades old. HPrizm (AKA High Priest) a legend of New York’s underground hip-hop scene and a founding member of Antipop Consortium has been one of Lehmans closest collaborators for over a decade, and the two continue to perform regularly in each others ensembles.

Saxophonist Maciek Lasserre, who also composed several of the pieces on the album, began studying with Lehman in 2005 and introduced Lehman to the burgeoning Senegalese hip-hop scene in 2010 and began working with Gaston Bandimic, one of Senegals most distinctive young rap stars, a few years later.

According to Lehman, who brought everyone together: “We come from such disparate backgrounds New York, Paris, Dakar but we discovered a lot of common ground. HPrizm, Gaston, and Maciek are all Sufi Muslims, so that informed a lot of the overarching themes for the lyrics. Also Maciek, Gaston and I are all fluent French speakers, so we just started building off of those cultural foundations.”

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released August 19, 2016