BABILA RECORDS

Project Music Album in Babila/ Guinea 2019

From January to April 2019 I was in Babila; a small town located in the central east of Guinea in West Africa. Beautifully situated on the banks of the river Niger and its tributary Niandan, the region is mainly populated by the Malinke ethnic group. The area is called Hamana. During my stay, I made audio recordings with the local musicians resulting in a nine-track album called Babila Records, which I am very happy to now release.

The idea of producing a CD was born together with the musicians and the recordings took place in a typical Malinke hut. The pieces are accompanied by two female griots, which is a singer, storyteller and poet. It is a profession into which one is born, and which plays a central role in the culture of oral tradition. Each specific rhythm has one or more associated songs that can have subtle differences to those played in neighbouring villages.

All participants volunteered to participate in this project unpaid and any profit from the sale of this CD goes exclusively to the participating artists.

The traditional Malinke music in Hamana consists primarily of percussion and vocals. There are three bass drums, the Sangban, the Dundunba and the Kenkeni. The first two are additionally equipped with a bell. Typical of Malinke's traditional music is the unmistakably audible bell line. The bass drums sometimes interact autonomously with each other. They can vary, respond, leave space, or change in intensity. The djembe as a solo instrument serves and guides the music and its creativity influences to a certain degree the whole interaction of the group. In that sense, each piece is unique and can be subtly different when played each time.

What fascinates me most about this music is its energy level. This depends on the extraordinary speed in which these rhythms are played, and the constantly changing intensity in the drummer's play. Directly influenced and motivated by the dancers, a multitude of rapid energy curves can be recognized in one piece. It is the art of percussionists to play with this energy level to maintain the energetic tension.

This music is played at village festivals, There are event with a cultural or religious background, social events; the musicians also play for the workers on the field, for magicians or for a mask dancer. Festivals can last from several hours to several days. During the festivities, the musicians are often exposed to the merciless sun of West Africa, they are exposed to a very sandy environment and always surrounded by crowds of children. That's how they play for hours. This requires an extraordinary physical condition. In addition, the musicians require a pronounced psychic commitment in order to pursue their rhythmic voice as present and as creative as possible. The musicians are paid by the organizers of the festivals and by the spectators, who can actively participate in the dance process and usually give money before or after their dance part. In both cases, the financial gain is rather small.

I would like to thank again for the enriching cooperation with all involved musicians.
Special thanks go to my teachers Nansady Kourouma and Mamady Condé, from whom I have already learned much about the rhythms of Malinke in the Hamana region.