“African Music in the Mountains” is the tagline for what promises to be a stunning show: Local African-influenced groups Zansa and Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba all take the stage at Pisgah Brewing Co. on Friday, July 24.
Press release from event organizers:
On Friday, July 24, two of North Carolina’s leading world music acts are teaming up for a night of sizzling West African grooves at Pisgah Brewing Company. Asheville-based group Zansa, led by Adama Dembele (djembe drummer from Ivory Coast), and triangle area-based outfit Kaira Ba, led by Diali Cissokho (kora master from Senegal), showcase ancient musical traditions through upbeat rhythms and the incorporation of modern instruments. Bass, guitar, violin, and drum set all meld together to bring the past to the present, bringing Africa to the mountains.
With the kora being the predecessor to the banjo, and the djembe a forerunner to the modern day drum set, the show is accessible and insightful. Traditionally, the djembe has been used as a form of communication, heralding ceremonies, marriages, births, deaths, and warning of danger. Similarly, kora-playing African griots were traveling storytellers who used music to share stories of culture, folklore, and even news.
Join Zansa and Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba for an evening of shared stories, celebration, and rarely seen virtuosic music-making.
TICKETS:
$7 advance/$10 at the door
Box Office at Harvest Records, West Asheville.
Online at: https://public.ticketbiscuit.com/PisgahBrewing/Ticketing/244399
More about Zansa:
The music of Zansa, a Nouchi slang word from Ivory Coast meaning “combination” or “blend,” is a synthesis of traditional and modern styles of West Africa. The Asheville, NC-based ensemble melds modern afropop with African folk music, African drumming, and the fiery dance-oriented Ivorian street music called Zouglou.
Zansa is led by 33rd generation West African musician Adama Dembele, a native of Ivory Coast, whose family lineage is recognized internationally as “Djembeso” or House of the Djembe. With years of international performing experience, Dembele relocated to Asheville, NC in 2005 to start his own project. With Zansa, he has continued to develop and expand his sound, now singing in multiple languages- French, Baoule, Bambara, and English, creating a multicultural mix of original songs, traditional stories, and impassioned music.
Today, Zansa is taking those traditional African songs and rhythms and incorporating Western instruments, such as electric guitar, acoustic and electric violins, bass, and drum set, offering a wide range of sonic possibilities. The music is rooted in the West African drumming tradition Dembele was born into and blended with a modern approach, lending familiarity to foreign sounds. The result is an original take on the authentic music of West Africa.
More about Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba:
Combining passionate originality and fierce authenticity, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba take West African dance music into new territory—literally, the North Carolina Piedmont. That’s where Cissokho, a griot born to a family of professional musicians in Senegal, makes his transplanted home.
The repertoire is pure Manding, the centuries-old musical culture of Cissokho’s ancestors. It’s reformulated with modernizing impulses in a rock band format: Agile basslines interweave with the melodic twins of kora and electric guitar, undergirded by an explosive rhythm section of djembe and trapset drums. Kora master Cissokho is also the group’s vocal frontman. His electrifying voice propels songs old and new about timeless themes of mythology, migration and universal love. Irrepressible dance grooves, serpentine guitar work, and Cissokho’s soulful vocals and kora playing illuminate stories of ancient West Africa in a globalizing world. In fact, “universal love” is a rough translation of “Kaira Ba,” a promise the band communicates live.
The result of this cross-continental collaboration is a fresh and exhilarating musical experience.
The kora itself, a jumbo spike-lute with skin-and-gourd resonator, is handed down within families in West Africa. There, it represents a hereditary musical tradition of moral and spiritual gravitas. Diali Cissokho maintains this heritage while walking his own path, playing with youthful fire and acrobatic effect. The band is rounded out by four outstanding North Carolina musicians – Jonathan Henderson, Austin McCall, Will Ridenour, and John Westmoreland, each bringing the their own musical influences to bear.
As a result, Kaira Ba has enjoyed a meteoric rise in its first two years of existence. In 2012, the band recorded Resonance, a shimmering studio album that captures all the drive and intensity of its live performances. The band has quickly become a hot ticket at festivals, museums and music venues across the Eastern U.S., touring as far afield as New York City and Senegal. Wherever they play, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba summon audiences to the dancefloor with a bonanza of euphoric West African grooves, all inflected with funk, soul, rock and music of the Black Diaspora.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.