COLLABORATING with English rock guitarist Justin Adams on the recent project ‘Soul Science’ Juldeh Camara continues to marry fulani’s folk melody with across the boundaries sounds.

The album features songs that instrumentally unfold unifying stories. Juldeh lays his Purla folk songs on this brilliant fusion of riti (West African violin) and the drizzling feeling of rock guitar.

One of the most classic intercultural experiments in music, ‘Soul Science’ affords a time for meditation, allows for some contemporary nomadic swing as well as a medium for a dance drama that exhumes buried stories.

The Eleven tracker CD features tracks such as ‘Yerro Mama’, ‘Ya Ta Kaaya’, ‘Sanakubay’, ‘Njatigi’, ‘Naafigi’, ‘Blue Man Returns’, ‘Subuhanalaii’, ‘Ngomen’, ‘Nayo’, ‘Yo Lay Lay’ and ‘Me Wairi Bainguray Am’. Soul Science has been nominated for the best album in the Culture Crossing category for the BBC World Music Awards 2008.

After a few years of collaborations with Robert Plant and Tinariwen, Juldeh's sound seemed like a perfect match for Justin's guitar and production. Justin Adams produced all three of the Malian desert blues band Tinariwen’s acclaimed albums. He knew how exactly to fuse Juldeh’s riti strum and singing to his rock style.

The blend became the distinct mix and the project known as Soul Science, released October 1, 2007.

The riti or nyanyeru is a one-string violin, originating from the Fulani people. The Fulani are originally a nomadic people and you can find various Fulani people all over the Sahel, from East to West, and most countries in West Africa. In Wolof (main language in Gambia and Senegal) the violin is called the riti, and in Fula the nyanyeru.

Juldeh Camara is undoubtedly one of the leading riti players of West Africa, and one of the most prominent Fula musicians. A fine singer and a prolific composer, Juldeh's work has been very wide-ranging, from traditional Fula pieces through work with Ifang Bondi (one of West Africa's leading electric bands) - touring all over Europe and in the USA - to recording with Norwegian guitarist Knut Reiersrud and British R&B artist Dee Ellington.

His recording debut in 1990 was for Bill Laswell's Axiom label, produced by Laswell and Foday Musa Suso - one of the tracks was subsequently sampled by leading Senegalese rap group Positive Black Soul.

"The djinni took his eyes and gave him the violin, the gift to play on it and the gift to see what other people cannot see." This is Juldeh's story about how his father became a musician. Juldeh's grandfather was a hunter, and he wanted his son Sherif to become a great hunter as himself, but when Sherif was 15 years old he disappeared in the forest. Everyone thought he was dead, killed by the hyenas.

One year later, his father who went every day to the forest to look for his son, suddenly heard a sound from a tree. He came closer and saw his son sitting in the tree playing a golden violin.

He understood that Sherif was hypnotised by the djinni and after many hours he managed to drive the djinni away, but at the same time the violin was gone. Sherif followed his father home, but every day he went back to the forest to learn more from the djinni.

When the time came, and Sherif had become a fully trained musician and Marabou, the djinni took his eyesight in return. Djinni is an invisible spirit believed to inhabit the earth and influence mankind by appearing in the form of humans or animals.

Juldeh grew up in Sariyalla in Casamance, West Africa, with his blind jali-father as his teacher. When one listens carefully one can hear the sound of the djinni in Juldeh's music.

Juldeh is recognised as one of the finest riti/nyanyeru players in West Africa. His tours to Europe include three trips to Norway, touring with guitarist Knut Reiersrud. He has recorded with Knut, as well as musicians from other continents, including the Five Blind Boys of Alabama. In the UK he has recorded with Zubop (Hiptodisiac, 1997/8), and more recently with Batanai Marimba on Moto Moto (2000) and Mudzimu Mudzimu (2002). His tours in the UK include those with Afro- Manding Sound, in 1996 and 1997, and with Ifang Bondi in 1998, 2000 and 2001. He has recorded with Ifang Bondi on their 1998 CD 'Gigi Gis'.

Since 1996 Juldeh has worked as a music teacher for ECCO, a Gambian NGO arranging courses for students of music from universities and academies in Europe (including, in recent years, students from London's Guildhall School of Music). The project is supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development - NORAD.

The courses are being arranged in traditional music villages all over The Gambia.

In early 2003, Juldeh toured England with the members of Zubop and djembe player Njega, as ZubopGambia, a tour supported by the Arts Council of England. Throughout the summer of 2003 he worked at The National Theatre, London, playing music for the acclaimed play 'Elmina's Kitchen' by Kwame Kwei- Armah. The play was later adapted for TV and screened on BBC4, toured the UK and transferred to the West End - all with Juldehs involvement.

In 2004, he toured England with kora player Seckou Keita in an acoustic quartet, appeared on BBC World Service 'Guy Barker's World Café' and continued to work with Zubop Gambia, who released a live CD recorded on the 2003 tour.

Since then he has been working with Boka Halat, bringing together English folk dance and music of the world - this group includes his countryman the percussionist Musa Mboob, with whom Juldeh has also worked with on a new project, Joko (www.jokoband.com). 

In early 2007, Juldeh started working with the excellent British guitarist and producer Justin Adams, best known for his work with Robert Plant in recent years, and in the '90s with Jah Wobble's Invaders of The Heart, also for his album Desert Road and his occasional live band The Wayward Sheikhs, featuring Salah Dawson Miller on percussions, Andy Cox on guitar (formerly of The Beat), Femi Akinde on bass and Siaye Akinde on drumkit.

Juldeh has been enjoying Justin's work for some time - after a friend sent him a cassette containing some tracks from Justin's CD Desert Road, he would sit and play along with it at his compound in Bakau, Gambia, entertaining the children and passers by.

He's very happy to be playing with Justin in real life, at last! In February 2007, Justin, Juldeh and Salah played at the prestigious Barbican concert hall in London, playing as support for Tinariwen, the renowned Touareg group whose latest CD 'Aman Iman' was produced by Justin.