From 21st to 25th June, the southern French city hosted the biggest family reunion ever - and easily the most eccentric one too - uniting three generations of Senegalese artists on the shores of La Garonne, the river that winds its tranquil course through town.

“Rio Loco is always special in that sense, as artists usually come from the same country… but this year, the connections between artists seem particularly tight.”

Every year, Rio Loco (meaning ‘crazy river’) tickles the waves of La Garonne with the sounds that blow across the river of another country. The Amazon brought the whole spectrum of Brazilian music to Toulouse in 2005, and this year, the River Senegal teased the town with the intricate rhythms and soaring melodies of West Africa’s most musical nation.

If the festival grounds sounded like the most diligently crafted compilation of Senegalese sounds, featuring stars from Youssou N’Dour and Omar Pene to Cheikh Lô and Daara J, the backstage area burst with the most potent concentration of Dakar showbiz ever to hit France. It’s not often that you’ll find the gracious elders of Orchestra Baobab swap tricks of the trade with DJ Awadi, while at the other end of the table, Youssou N’Dour’s star bass player Habib Faye talks jazz with kora master Soriba Kouyate and Julia Sarr gets an earful of Aliou Mbaye N’Der’s energy-driven show. ‘Rio Loco is always special in that sense, as artists usually come from the same country’, comments festival director Christine Tilly, ‘but this year, the connections between artists seem particularly tight. And what’s really special is that many musicians are in fact related.’

The Senegalese music scene might stretch from Dakar to Paris, and from mbalax to hip hop, but it’s surprisingly close-knit. All of the artists featured on the Rio Loco stage knew of one another, some belong to the same families, and most had crossed paths at some point of their careers. ‘Touré Kunda’, laughed Orchestra Baobab’s guitarist Latfi Bengeloune when the band’s tour bus rolled in, ‘they are my small brothers! They used to make tea for me when I was still based in Mauritania.’ And when DJ Awadi set the stage alight with a punchy live hip hop show, Baobab singer Rudi Gomis revealed another unlikely connection: ‘Awadi used to be my DJ’, he said, ‘in the years Orchestra Baobab wasn’t playing, I used to tour the country performing to backing tracks, and Awadi was the one putting them on. That’s like another era!’

Stellar guitarist Omar Sow was in Toulouse as part of Souleymane Faye’s exciting new Afro-funk project — but he could have easily picked his solo notes for a number of artists, from Cheikh Lô to Pape & Cheikh, both of whom he has played and recorded with in the past. Orchestra Baobab’s saxophone player Thierno Kouyaté did indeed step onto stage several times: in flowing boubou for the steaming Baobab show (the festival highlight), in patchwork trousers for Cheikh Lô’s gig, and in well-mannered ensemble for Omar Pene’s performance.

‘This is what creates a real sense of Dakar — the sharing of the stage and the spontaneous contributions’, says Souleymane Kane, artistic director of the famous Dakar live venue Just 4 U. Every single artist of the Rio Loco line-up has passed through the Just 4 U, Dakar’s friendliest, and possibly most prestigious venue, and the leafy restaurant is also the place where some of Rio Loco’s best ideas were born. It’s where Daara J celebrated their anniversary in the prestigious company of Youssou N’Dour — before performing their explosive set of mbalax-hip hop for Rio Loco. It’s also where ex-Xalam II singer Souleymane Faye started experimenting with his unique brand of chanson-fuelled Afro-funk, and then got the chance to present it to international audiences in Toulouse.

The Just 4 U was the only Senegalese festival sponsor, their logo, a lounging yellow lizard, squatting as a lone Senegalese symbol among the insignias of France’s mighty business and media institutions. ‘It would have been nice to see more Senegalese companies involved in this festival’, says Souleymane Kane, ‘but I think people lacked faith, until preparations had proceeded so far that it was too late to get involved. At least we’re here to represent’, he says and smiles.

Next year, the soft shores of the Garonne will resound with music from Spain, and preparations are in full swing. ‘I better go and learn Spanish now’, says Souleymane, ‘who knows? There might just be space for a Senegalese-Spanish project’.

Photos by Laure Kane