Kouyate-Neerman, Palmwine Mandingo Party, Nuits Sonores 2012.
This unique musical experience is based on a duo: Kouyate, balafon player from Kangaba in Mali, and Neerman a french vibraphone player. More than a cultural meeting, the dialogue between this two cousin instruments is here pretext to creative explorations in rhythm and melody. Taking roots in both jazz and mandingo tradition, the created atmosphere is definitely modern: although recorded in an analog studio, the second album integrates the balafon with breaks and vibraphone effects research. The title "Skycrapers and Deities" reflects perfectly the approach, linking up modernism and tradition, concrete and mysticism, human and god.
I saw them live in 2011 as a great opening for Randy Weston, and this month during Palmwine Mandingo Party, which allowed them to fully and freely express their original transe music in front of a highly charged dancefloor...
Meeting with Lansiné Kouyaté and David Neerman before the concert:
