Umberto Vitiello - Lebou [LP]

Italian percussionist Umberto Vitiello takes us on a journey into a vanished world. Mixed by Italian techno master Donato Dozzy, the album draws on memories spanning decades, including Vitiello's years living on Yarakh Beach on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal. There, the rhythms of daily life flowed with the tides: fishermen launching their pirogues at dawn, griots and vendors gathering beneath three towering palm trees, and the Atlantic Ocean providing a serene soundtrack.Named after the Lebou people whose fishing culture has shaped the coastline around Dakar for centuries, the record is both a tribute to a community that welcomed Vitiello as one of their own and a reflection on what has been lost. Those years left a profound mark on both his life and his music. Yet this is not simply a work of remembrance. It is also a meditation on change. Today, the beach that inspired these recordings has been transformed by pollution and environmental decline. Where fishing boats and palm trees once stood, a sculpture by Senegalese artist Serigne Gorgui Mbaye now depicts two giant ears facing the sea-a reminder of the need to listen: to one another, to nature, and to our own conscience.Blending percussion, atmosphere, and storytelling, the album revisits formative experiences from the 1980s through the perspective of the present day. Featuring vocal contributions from Olympia Ndiaye, Anna Caragnano, and Mariangela Morais, and guided by Dozzy's spacious, immersive mix, it unfolds as a deeply personal journey through memory, place and transformation.