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cd cover Malang Mané
Balanta Balo: Talking Wood of Casamance
16.99

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See the complete Village Pulse catalog of African drum recordings.

" Here is the balafon music from the Balanta people of Guinée-Bissau and Senegal, taped in a coconut grove along the Casamance River. The music is made by two men, hammering on a single instrument made of carved wood stretched over gourds. "Bird calls appear on some tracks," the liner notes tell us. From these simple elements master balafonist Malang Mané and his former student, singer/balafonist Oumar Sadio create forty-five minutes of mesmerizing music; two men, four hands, two voices joined into a singular enterprise. They sing praises to generous neighbors, tell news of a politician falsely imprisoned and now liberated. They warn of the dishonesty of a Gambian customer, they even sing of the exchange rate. But deep below this is the insinuating sound of the balafon, it's rumbling undertones and almost imperceptible overtones are almost impossible to separate as the two musicians act as one of the instrument. If you are already captured by the interlacing strings of the kora of west Africa but have yet to discover the bala, then you will find this music immediately captivating." - RootsWorld

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