by phil | Sep 15, 2011 | Music, Stories, W. Africa
I travel with a canon s90 and a flip cam. I do most of my reflection with a notepad; some amount of that writing ends up on this site. I also travel with a digital field recorder, currently an Edirol R-09. I record a bit of everything with it. Music from car stereos...
by phil | Aug 9, 2011 | Cote D'Ivoire, Mali, Music
On the coast of Cote d’Ivoire, in Abidjan, you can go to a nightclub and dance to coupé-décalé till morning. It is possibly the most frenetic dance music on earth. Get in sync with it and your definition of human movement will change forever (see Dj...
by phil | Jun 20, 2011 | Mali, Music
Where I’m from, tomorrow is the longest day of the year. The sun will crawl to the horizon and some people will enjoy a light-filled evening of pleasant temperatures, cocktails, crickets, frogs. Others will hide from tornadoes and many may actually try to put...
by phil | Apr 27, 2011 | Music, Senegal
Previously, Mali: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV. Senegal: Part I More jams from Senegal. Some really good ones in fact. Nothing groundbreaking in rhythm, instrumentation or arrangement, but vocal abilities bordering on inhuman. Before I get into it, a quick...
by phil | Mar 16, 2011 | Music, Senegal
Previously, I covered Malian music: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV. In April, I will visit Senegal for the first time. While it will be my first trip there, I have long been familiar, and occasionally obsessed with, Senegalese music. The dominant genre in...
by phil | Feb 14, 2011 | Mali, Music, W. Africa
Last one on Mali. If you need to get caught up: Part I, Part II, and Part III. The previous post took us to the far north of Mali. This post is not regionally based. Here you will find a few artists that I didn’t fit in earlier. Boubacar Traore Boubacar...
