I've been grooving to 2 tunes in particular today while avoiding my Greek vocabulary work (or, "that effing Greek", as its becoming known by around here.)
The first one I picked up from the Soundroots blog:
Today's song is about fruit. Mamadou Diabate is a Mali-born, US-based kora player familiar to world music fans. His upcoming album Heritage features his instrumental group, which includes Guinean guitarist Mory Kante, balafon player Balla Kouyate, percussionist Baye Kouyate, and bassist Noah Jarrett. Diabate acknowledges a musical growth achieved by living in the US and playing with jazz musicians:
Playing jazz has developed my techincal skill and my improvisations. If I go too far, I lose the character of Mande music. But in jazz, I am free and that has changed me. In Mali I would not have these experiences. Living in the United States has made me a better musician.
But back to the harvest. "Djiribah" is a pentatonic tune that talks about "the big tree," which provides delicious fruit to the people. Elders are compared to that tree, for when they leave, it is a sad day for the people.
[mp3] Mamadou Diabate: "Djirbah"
from the forthcoming album Heritage (World Village, 2006)
Diabate's website
Diabate's previous solo kora CD is Behmanka (World Village, 2005)
The second couldn't be more different. The Tragically Hip have a new album coming out, and In View is the advance single. These guys just keep reinventing themselves, and I love it.
Recent Comments