Issa Keita, balafon (marimba) virtuoso, Bamako, Mali

At lunch near the Bamako, Mali, market, I spent an hour listening to a young balafon virtuoso, Issa Keita. With 2 sticks he laid down astounding layers of rhythm (the ground of one pattern extended over 16 beats and mixed 2 meters, 3/8 and 4/8, but one had to work to locate the down-beats, because it was all about rhythmic anticipations and suspensions). Over that, he improvised pentatonic melodies and riffs. His mallet-work was amazingly controlled and nuanced. Unfortunately, I neglected to get the name of the assisting drummer. The performance was filmed by Christraud Geary, Teele Curator of the art of Africa and Oceania and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in January, 2009.
http://www.elinewberger.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• balafon
• marimba
• Mali
• Bamana
• xylophone
• African music

[busessuck1]

that's badass

[tekrtu]

Sounds so nice. Thank you for sharing this video.

[thecolorcast]

holy shit!