Customer Reviews

Kora Melodies from the Republic of the Gambia, West Africa

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This is really a stunning set of songs from Konte. I hadn't realised he'd passed away until I read one of the reviews posted here. Of course he sounds nothing like Leo Kottke, but he can move with that same dazzling speed, say on 'Baa to toto', whilst imitating a frog, belting a bluesy barrelhouse piano sound and simultaneously unfolding a melody. Elsewhere, on 'Daua', he hums like an insect over a sitar sounding piece. The moods vary, from festive rollicking, through booming rhythms,to eerie melodies. Like Kottke, without witnessing a performance, it's hard to believe only one man is making such a surplus of music.

When I first heard this, in an earlier centuty, I had no idea what was coming. This has been one of my very favorite recordings since then. Amazing depth of talent and musical emotion.

Don't you dare miss the ultimate dazzling recording of the famed, undisputed African master of the Gambian Kora harp. Alhaji Bai Konte's legandary artistry was well documented by the press for making even some of the worlds most the most brutal dictators and hearless tyrants weep like children.

The short Amazon clips below do not begin to do it justice because they are too short to cover his astonishing transitions. Take it from a conservatory graduate and full time touring professional musician: get this recording and spread it around. Great for background, foreground, and concentrated listening. There is a lot more here than the musics gleaming surface. Use headphones and really concentrate on every nuance - and try to keep your foot tapping to the tempo of the initial groove no matter what you hear - and you are in for a mind altering experience.

It a blessing that this vital recording was made (almost didn't happen) and it has been blowing my mind for over 30 years. I cannot imagine life without it, and it is a human tragedy that the publisher is considering discontinuing it. It is, without question, one of the great recordings of all time.

The harmony, counterpoint, texture, melody, technique, interpretation,is off the charts. Above all the incredible way Konte appears to leave his astounding rhythmic grooves behind, moving seamlessly into soaring arabesques and "counter sections" only to to drop back to the original groove later on: RIGHT ON THE BEAT, RIGHT IN TEMPO, and in EXACTLY the right place where the groove would have been is utter genius. Konte playes contrasting sections like the greatest of modern Jazz drummers take a solo - but unlike them Konte keeps the harmony and melody going too. If Beethoven, or Charlie Parker, or Rachmanainoff or Earl Hines or Tony Williams were from Gambia they might sound almost as good as Konte.

Maybe. But I never heard of those musicians making grown men cry.

This recording was given to us in Burkina Faso in the 1980's. The people there consider this Guinean griot to be the deepest, and best kora player ever. We have to agree. It was said that even the despotic ruler of Guinea shed tears at the death of Alhaji Bai Konte. Add this classic to your West African music collection.

Although I have not heard this CD yet, I was lucky enough to see one of Alhaji Bai Konte's performances when he was in the US about twenty years ago. The audience sat in wrapt silence as the griot played his Kora under a 200-year-old oak tree on the Campus of Friends World College in Lloyd Harbor. How I would love to see him perform again. Michael Kucher