Big Blue Ball - Big Blue Ball (2008)

Big Blue Ball is an album by multiple artists which "grew from 3 recording weeks" at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in the summers of 1991, 1992, and 1995. It is Peter Gabriel's fourteenth album project overall. In production for more than 18 years, "Big Blue Ball" is a project featuring several artists from all around the world working together. Gabriel said that although the initial recording was finished by 1995, "the tapes were left in a mess and it's taken this long to sort out." Producer Stephen Hague was finally called in to sort out the project. Guests on the album include Wendy Melvoin of Wendy & Lisa, Sinéad O'Connor, Karl Wallinger (of World Party), Natacha Atlas, and Papa Wemba. Gabriel takes the lead vocals on several tracks on the album. A mix of western, African, and Asian musicians are also included. Big Blue Ball was launched in the United States in June, 24th, 2008.

“One week in the middle of summer this craziness exploded in our Real World Studios. We had this week of invited guests, people from all around the world, fed by music and a 24 hour café. It was a giant playpen, a bring your own studio party. There’d be a studio set up on the lawn, in the garage, in someone’s bedroom as well as the seven rooms we had available. We were curators of sorts of all this living mass. We had poets and songwriters there, people would come in and scribble things down, they’d hook up in the café. It was like a dating agency, then they’d disappear into the darkness and make noises – and we’d be there to record it.” ~ Peter Gabriel, producer and performer

Big Blue Ball is more of a collective than a band, with the final project being completed well over a decade after the majority of the sessions. Back in the '90s (1991, 1992, and 1995 to be exact), Peter Gabriel and Karl Wallinger invited friends and musicians from around the world to participate in weeklong collaborative writing and recording sessions at Real World Studios. The results were then crafted into this album. Overall, the album crosses the globe-trotting multiculturalism of Music and Rhythm (the first WOMAD compilation) with the slick production of Gabriel's Us (released about the same time these sessions took place). Couple the fact that Gabriel's solo work has been increasingly infused with world music beginning with Security and the fact that he's got one of the more recognizable voices in music, and Big Blue Ball almost plays like a lost Peter Gabriel album. This is not meant to diminish the strong contributions of others. Hossam Ramzy and Natacha Atlas take the lead on "Habibe" and Márta Sebestyén, Sinéad O'Connor, Rossy, and Papa Wemba all turn in great vocal performances. Joseph Arthur and Iarla Ó Lionáird's "Altus Silva" actually sounds a bit like Gabriel, and when Arthur joins Gabriel on "Exit Through You," the result could easily be a So outtake. The sound changes a bit at the end of the album, moving from the Peter Gabriel '90s sound to something a bit more 21st century with the Malagasy rap of "Jijy" and the sampled horns of the title track. It's a bit odd that Big Blue Ball was so long in coming, but Peter Gabriel fans will find it was worth the wait.

~ Sean Westergaard, All Music

Track List:

01. Whole Thing (Original Mix) [5:27]

Lead vocal, keyboards: Peter Gabriel
Guitars: Karl Wallinger, Paul Allen
Nord brass, backing vocals: Alex Faku
Flutes: Francis Bebey
Backing vocals: Tim Finn, Andy White
Programming: Chuck Norman
Toms: Tchad Blake

02. Habibe [7:12]

Vocals: Natacha Atlas
Drums & percussion: Hossam Ramzy, Neil Sparkes
Strings: The Hossam Ramzy Egyptian Ensemble (Wael Abu Bakr, Adel Eskander, Momtaz Talaat)
Saz: Tim Whelan
Keyboards: Stephen Hague
Programming: Chuck Norman

03. Shadow [4:28]

Vocals: Papa Wemba
Backing Vocals: Reddy Amisi
Guitar: Juan Cañizares
Percussion: The Papa Wemba Band
Bongos: Laurent Coatalen
Frame Drums: Tchad Blake

04. Altus Sliva [6:07]

Vocals: Joseph Arthur, Iarla Ó Lionáird
Bass: Noel Ekwabi
Conga: The Papa Wemba Band
Piano, keyboards: Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez
Guitar synth: Vernon Reid
Whistle, low whistle: James McNally
Uilleann pipes: Ronan Browne
Programming: Chuck Norman
Keyboards, harmonium and flute like body bells: Tchad Blake

05. Exit Through You [5:52]

Vocals: Joseph Arthur, Peter Gabriel
Guitar: Joseph Arthur, Karl Wallinger
Bass: Peter Gabriel
Keyboards: Peter Gabriel
Backing Vocals: Justin Adams, Karl Wallinger
Programming: Chuck Norman
Shaker, tambourine, bass: Tchad Blake

06. Evertything Comes From You [4:42]

Vocals: Sinead O’Connor
Backing vocals: Sevara Nazarkhan
Drums, percussion, Chinese drum: Joji Hirota
Drums: Ged Lynch
Flutes: Guo Yue
Keyboards: Rupert Hine
Piano: Angie Pollock
Guitar, mandolin and recorder: Richard Evans

07. Burn You Up, Burn You Down [4:31]

Vocals, keyboards: Peter Gabriel
Backing vocals: The Holmes Brothers: Wendell, Sherman & Popsi; Jules Shear; Karl Wallinger
Guitar: Justin Adams, David Rhodes
Bass: Jah Wobble, Wendy Melvoin
Djembe, sabar: Arona N’Diaye
Drums: Billy Cobham
Programming: Chuck Norman
Guitar synth, organ, skin shake, hi hat, frame drum: Tchad Blake

08. Forest [6:17]

Vocals: Hukwe Zawose
Guitar: Vernon Reid
Percussion: Arona N’Diaye
Doudouk: Levon Minassian
Programming: Chuck Norman and Stephen Hague

09. Rivers [5:45]

Lead vocal, flute: Marta Sebestyen
Bass: Karl Wallinger
Drones, river pad, general programming: Chuck Norman
Guitar synth: Vernon Reid
Accordion: Stephen Hague
Drones: Peter Gabriel

10. Jijy [4:00]

Vocals: Rossy
Programming: Chuck Norman and Stephen Hague
Percussion: Arona N’Diaye
Bass: Jah Wobble

11. Big Blue Ball [4:52]

Vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards: Karl Wallinger
Piano, organ, keyboards, solo keyboards: Peter Gabriel
Drums: Manu Katché
Accordion: Stephen Hague
Programming: Chuck Norman
Kick drum, bells: Tchad Blake