Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: Aly Keita

Frank Bessem's
Musiques d'Afrique:

Aly Keita
(Côte d'Ivoire)

Musiques d'Afrique
Musiques de Côte d'Ivoire

Aly Keita is an extraordinary balafon player from Côte d'Ivoire. Born in 1969 in Abidjan, he was initiated in playing the balafon by his father. He builds his balafons himself, and adapted them by adding gourds of different sizes as resonators. Well-tuned, his balafon has a unique sound, and his superb mastering of this instrument makes his performance an unforgettable event. He builds up a song from a simple phrase to a complex polyphonic fabric. When performing solo, he fills the stage as if a second balafon is playing along with him.

On his debut album, « Akwaba Iniséné », he is backed by a band made up of various musicians of the Contre-Jour label stable, such as Kélétigui Diabaté and various Gangbé Brass Band members from Benin. On a part of the tracks, the superb voice of Dobet Gnahoré is added. Not only because of that, but also by the way of playing balafon, there is a strong jazzy feel on the entire album, but the album will be appreciated by both lovers of traditional African instrumental music as well as lovers of cross-over and afro-jazz. This is a remarkable debut!

Musicians on the album Akwaba Iniséné:
Aly Keita balafon, sanza (10)
Patrick Ruffino bass (1-2-4-6-7-9-11)
Boris Tchango drums (1-2-4-6-7-9-11)
Dobet Gnahoré vocals, percussion (1-3-6-9-10)
Martial Ahouandjinou trombone (1-2-4-11)
Magloire Ahouandjinou trumpet (1-2-4-11)
Colin Laroche de Féline guitar (3-9)
Kélétigui Diabaté balafon (12)
Mahamadou Koné tamani (12)
Gangbé Brass Band balafon (13)

Sources:
Aly Keita's Myspace [external link]

Born: 1969, in Abidjan
Style: instrumental / balafon / mandingo / afro-jazz

Discography:

Title	Year	Label	Remarks
Akwaba Iniséné	2007	Contre-Jour CJ016