They couldn’t possibly find a better title to this event: East Meets West, and that’s how it will go on the 2nd of March at Rich Mix. When Nepalese fusion band Namlo will introduce their brand new self-titled album supported by so distant, so close singer/songwriters from Senegal (Kadialy Kouyate)...
Tag Archives: griot
![Album Review: Kadialy Kouyate – Na Kitabo [KKSOUNDARCHIVE, 2nd December 2016]](https://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/a2229307561_10-335x303.jpg)
It’s great to hear Kadialy Kouyate firmly back in his own Mandinka territory. This latest album Na Kitabo (My Book) by the kora player and singer is rooted in his own Senégalese tradition and has all the hallmarks of a classic in the making. The themes of the songs counteract humanity’s...
“How can such small instruments possibly play so loud?” That’s what a member of the audience asked to BKO Quintet after their Huddersfield gig a few days ago. However, when the ‘small’ instruments are an amplified djeli n’goni and a donso n’goni, played by the educated fingertips of Abdoulaye Koné...
Sona Jobarteh is the picture of determination. That’s not just because of her consciousness, musicianship, poignant voice or effect produced by the bright-red dress she wore during her latest London gig at Rich Mix part of EDF London Jazz Festival; it’s something which is intrinsic to her figure. From ‘Jarabi’ to the...
Kadialy Kouyate and Muntu Valdo are two musicians who are deeply enriching the London music scene. They come from Senegal and Cameroon and when they moved to the UK, brought their luggage brimming with stories, sounds and images inspired by their century-old traditions. Their new residence has helped them to...
![Album Review: Noura Mint Seymali – Arbina [Glitterbeat Records, 16th September 2016]](https://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/noura-mint-seymali-arbina-800-335x335.jpg)
Noura Mint Seymali’s latest release, Arbina (Glitterbeat Records), is probably one of the most unusual and intriguing albums I’ve ever listened to. As someone who unfortunately isn’t very familiar with West African music (let alone that of Noura’s homeland, Mauritania), my first taste of her album initially left me slightly...
Sona Jobarteh hails from one of the most renowned Griot families in Western Africa. A family with a long tradition of producing remarkable artists, minstrels and storytellers, little more than 30 years ago, the Jobarteh family gave life to Sona: the first “female Kora virtuoso to come from a prestigious...
![Album Review: Diabel Cissokho -Tambacounda Express [Kafou Music, 1st July 2016]](https://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/a1310769216_10-335x335.jpg)
It’s not often I can say that reviewing an album made my day, but in the case of Senégalese multi-instrumentalist Diabel Cissokho’s latest release, Tambacounda Express, it certainly did! The album, which, as Diabel affirmed during a chat we had at Womad UK this Summer, takes its name from the...
At the age of sixty-six, Kassé Mady Diabaté is one of the living greats of Malian music. His nickname Kassé derives from the Bambara word Kassi, which means to weep, as his beautiful voice is said to make people cry with joy. What an honour it was then to have a short interview...
