Meet my teacher in Senegal!

[Michel]

Hi everyone,

I've been playing with these guys for two weeks now, and it's great. Lessons everyday, programs in villages, really nice. This is Kantara Sago on solo, Vieux Konate accompaniment, Djibril Cisse dunun, in Malicounda, Senegal. I'm still having lots of questions about this n'grin. When I play them the phrases I learned in Mali they ask me which rhythm I'm playing.... their version is so different. Only the dunun and some breaks I can recognize.



And another week to go!

Kan be

Michel

[James]

Awesome playing, I can't really comment on the differences, because I don't know Ngrir really....

Thanks for sharing...

[kosta]

Really like these guys!

Kantara Sago on solo has some really nice phrasing. In the first half (slow) there are alot of phrases that have the same feeling with the Malian version. The second half (fast) it sounds a bit different mainly cause I never heard N'Gri played so fast before and I cant really understand how the duns are changed...

Here 's a clip with Sekouba Traore playing N'Gri


Cheers
Kosta

[djembefeeling]

Indeed a strange N'Gri. In the recordings of the Malian version I know the sidedrum and the duns usually play more in a ternary feeling, while the soloist explores the feelings somewhere in between binary and ternary. Here, siderum and duns play strictly binary. In the second half (min. 2:47) they seems to switch to another rhythm, this time ternary. Does anybody know the name of that rhythm? It's hard to tell, since the groups playing sort of falls apart...

[Michel]

I know how they call it in Senegal: N'grin! It's strange also, compared to what I learned till so far on ngrin. They start with a slow version, which is played while the jeli is singing and the women are dancing in circles. (I try to share more of this when I get home. The wifi here is.... african.) Then they play it like in the video. Everybody recognizes the n'grin in, what they call it, the second part. It's the rhythm as we know it, like in Mali, with the same feeling, but different phrasing. Then there is a third part, where the djembe only plays tátadiditátadiditátadiditátadidi (played it for hours today on a baptem) and the dunun changes into a very fast ternary feel. But sometimes when I play it I miss the change, and just keep on playing the accompaniment for the second part.... (untill Kantara tries to hit me...) So does it really change from binary to ternary? You can also still play the same dunun as in the 'second part', but really fast!

I don't know what happened between Mali and Senegal, but they are Malians, Kantara was born in Mali and raised in his tradition. But when they hear this over in Wassoulou, I'm very curious what they will say of it. The research keeps on going!

Thanks for the reactions.