Transcultural collaboration within the context of West African griot music: Exploring the role of the drummer and the case of the band Faso Kan

Ossi Raippalinna

The purpose of this text is to reflect on my experiences as an active member of a culturally diverse ensemble called Faso Kan. The primary source is the artistic work of Faso Kan during the years 2006-2020. The ensemble worked intensively during 2020-21, resulting in an album completed in September 2021. My main contribution to the album was adapting and arranging traditional West African rhythms for the drum kit and performing them in the studio. This study attends to cover different aspects of that process, particularly the drummer’s point of view. I will also cover the collaboration-based music-making approaches that I encountered while working with Faso Kan. Although Faso Kan´s repertoire consists mainly of traditional pieces from Burkina Faso, the working methods resulted in music representing several musical cultures. The study is primarily based on artistic work, but I will also reflect on the related experiences of other researchers and musicians.

A list of references

Agawu, Kofi. (1987, Summer). "The Rhythmic Structure of West African Music." Journal of Musicology, 5(3), 400-418

Agawu, Kofi. (1986, Winter). " 'Gi Dunu,' 'Nyekpapudo,' and the Study of West African Rhythm." Ethnomusicology, 30(2), 64-83.

Audet, Véronique, 2007, « Le balafon tiéfo, un instrument de musique parlant. Ou comment comprendre, intellectuellement et sensiblement, une œuvre artistique hors de son contexte original »

Billmeier, Uschi (2004, January) Mamady Keita; Life for the Djembe - Traditional Rhythms of the Malinke

Belliard F.(2001) « La préparation de bière de sorgho chez les ɟóòhé (Burkina Faso), étude ethnolinguistique d'une technique », Journal des africanistes, vol. 71, no 2,‎ 2001, p. 49–76

Diabaté, Mamadou (2021, September). The Sambla and their talking xylophone. Website: https://www.mamadoudiabate.com/english/the-sambla/

Fiol Orlando Enrique (2007, December) HIDDEN RHYTHM: A Case For Clave As An Analytical Bridge Between West African Music and the West

The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) ( 2017) THE INDIGENOUS WORLD 2017

https://www.iwgia.org/images/documents/indigenous-world/indigenous-world-2017.pdf 15.9.2021

Halonen, Janne (2018) "My Journey from Being a Multicultural Magpie to Transcultural Musicking "

Locke, David. (1982, May) "Principles of Offbeat Timing and Cross-Rhythm in Southern Ewe

Dance Drumming." Ethnomusicology, 26(2), 217-246.

Morgan, A. (2014, May 22). Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté: It's like an entire music industry in one family. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/22/toumani-diabate-sidiki-kora-music-industr y-family

Polak R, London J and Jacoby N (2016) Both Isochronous and Non-Isochronous Metrical Subdivision Afford Precise and Stable Ensemble Entrainment: A Corpus Study of Malian Jembe Drumming. Front. Neurosci. 10:285. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2016.00285

Raippalinna Ossi, (2009, December) travel journal, field trip to Burkina Faso

Zemp, Hugo, avec SORO, Sikaman

2004 Paroles de balafon. In Musique et anthropologie, L’Homme, 171-172:313-332

Interviews:

Issa Dembele, griot musician, interviewed by Ossi Raippalinna 19.2.2021, interview archived on a hard drive and in the possession of the researcher.

Yamar Thiam, griot musician, interviewed by Ossi Raippalinna 6.2.2020 https://youtu.be/cbpFMxrj-QA

Adama Dramé, griot musician, interviewed by Ossi Raippalinna 10.5.2018 interview archived on a hard drive and in the possession of the researcher.

Mamady Keïta, griot musician, interviewed by Uschi Billmeyer https://www.paulnas.nl/en/sounou/

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