{"id":16689,"date":"2019-06-08T05:30:53","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T09:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=16689"},"modified":"2019-05-17T08:14:08","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T12:14:08","slug":"album-review-arouna-biko-bamanaya-sira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/08\/album-review-arouna-biko-bamanaya-sira\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Arouna & Biko — Bamanaya Sira"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"There\u2019s a convincing argument to be made that so-called \u201cworld music\u201d got its start when flautist Herbie Mann explored the ways in which American musical styles (predominantly jazz) could be combined with traditional music of other cultures, notably ones outside the European sphere of influence. Though in retrospect it seems comparatively tame and tentative, his 1959 LP Herbie Mann\u2019s African Suite<\/i> was one of the first cross-cultural albums to treat African musical textures and values as more than a gimmick.<\/p>\n

But the widely acknowledged breakthrough release that opened the world music floodgates was Talking Timbuktu<\/i>, an album featuring the music of Malian artist Ali Farka Tour\u00e9 with American musical folklorist\/archivist Ry Cooder. Talking Timbuktu<\/i> altered the musical landscape; today it\u2019s difficult to hear any Western-African musical hybrid without thoughts quickly turning to Tour\u00e9\u2019s Grammy-winning 1994 release.<\/p>\n

Things have changed, though, and not only has the music of African countries fund a receptive audience in the United States, but its influence is felt in the work of decidedly Western artists like David Byrne. Locally, conscious world-folk act Rising Appalachia readily incorporates African textures into some of its original music. Part of that is doubtless thanks to the participation of band member Biko Casini. In between his commitment to Rising Appalachia, Casini has embarked on a muical project with Burkina Faso-born multi-instrumentalist Arouna Diarra. Together, the two have played with percussionist Jessie Lehmann as The AZA Band; a new collaborative work credited to Diarra and Casini, Bamanaya Sira<\/i> was released April 19.<\/p>\n

Per the duo\u2019s Facebook page, the album\u2019s title is a phrase from the Malian language Bambara or Bamanankan, translated as \u201cthe many pathways and branches of the ancient culture.\u201d The album features the two musicians playing a variety of instruments from the African musical tradition, including balafon, calabash, djembe, kamele ngoni, kora and talking drum. But alongside those relatively unfamiliar stringed and\/or percussive instruments are sounds created by guitar and electric bass. The result is a heady and hypnotic mix that works on multiple levels.<\/p>\n

Diarra sings in his native language, but it isn\u2019t necessary to understand what he\u2019s singing about to be taken in by the music. It\u2019s warm, inviting, playful and accomplished. Strictly speaking, \u201cYaala (Ngoni Blues)\u201d isn\u2019t a blues at all, but there\u2019s a depth of emotion that shines through that does indeed connect it to the Delta blues of the American south.<\/p>\n

What sounds very much like a mbira \u2013 a traditional African instrument with a tone not unlike that of a musical box \u2013 is at the center of the Swaying \u201cBara.\u201d Audiences who\u2019ve grown up knowing Graceland, Paul Simon\u2019s celebrated foray into world music, may find that the tune has a feel that would be right at home on that disc. But Diarra\u2019s gentle vocals lend it an authenticity all its own.<\/p>\n

Yann Clery\u2019s nimble flute work on \u201cDoubabu\u201d helps further blur the lines between the African and Western characteristics of the album; it feels like equal parts British folk and world music. Casini\u2019s band mates Leah and Chloe Smith subtly lend their voices and instruments (banjo and bodrhan) on \u201cDounia La Tiege.\u201d Elsewhere, fiddle, cello and even saxophone are deftly woven into the mix. It\u2019s a testament to the musical vision of Diarra and Casini that those \u201cauxiliary\u201d instruments don\u2019t seem the least bit out of place; the duo\u2019s concept of world music is expansive enough to include most anything, but in the process it remains true to the fundamental characteristics of African music. Bamanaya Sira<\/i> is a unified work, one that showcases the best the duo has to offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a convincing argument to be made that so-called \u201cworld music\u201d got its start when flautist Herbie Mann explored the ways in which American musical styles (predominantly jazz) could be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,65,76],"tags":[3839,237,3840],"class_list":["post-16689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-review","category-world","tag-arouna-diarra","tag-asheville","tag-biko-casini","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","cat-76-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16689"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16691,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16689\/revisions\/16691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}