Customer Reviews

Music of Senegal

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Once your ears become accustomed to the combination of Kora and Balo tunings, this recording will really grow on you. The interaction between these instruments and Djembe is astounding.

Check out track 13 - a duet between Balo (xylophone) and Djembe (drum), and the instrumental section on track 3.

Brilliant

Morikeba Kouyate is a Senegalese musician who performs on the kora, a massive 20-stringed indigenous harp. Kouyate is trained in the tradition of the griot, the oral storyteller who held genealogical and historic lore in West African society. On this disc, Kouyate offers us 11 tracks that faithfully represent this intriguing musical genre.

Except for a few varied bits on the kora at the start of several tracks, I found each song to be fairly simple, the handful of notes repeated again and again. However, the interaction of the kora with drums create exciting rhythms that make repeated listening worthwhile. Plus, the Senegalese tuning is different than the Western standard, making harmonies a bit spicy.

It's a pity that the song texts aren't included in the Wolof original and in English translation--if Kouyate is an oral storyteller, it would be nice to know what stories exactly he's telling. Nonetheless, this is a fun release and recommended for anyone looking for a more traditional Senegalese music experience than, say, Youssou N'Dour.