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.

Conclusions

A project that included a lot of material and an extended time span of 15 years is confrontational to write about. One of the biggest challenges was to narrow down the reading and put the finger on what should be left out. The subject being personally important and close in many ways resulted in lust to thoroughly explain my discoveries. During the reading, I was happy to find several sources that provided new approaches and indispensable data. I also found out that many of my own hypotheses are being studied, and some researchers have identical results and conclusions.

I set out to find a way to adapt traditional West African rhythms for the drum kit. I wanted to do it in a way that follows the rules and values of griot music. I had to lay a solid base of information for the readers, to be able to approach the hypernyms of “West African rhythms”, or “Griot music”. As wide these terms are, one could dispute whether they are valid for the phrasing of a question.

That´s why In the written project intended to zoom in precisely to the musical tradition of cabaret balafon in Burkina Faso and the related values. However, the angle of balafon music alone was not sufficient, because of the global nature of the project. As a direct consequence of the international team, the involved artists represent dozens of traditions. When writing, II had to take that diversity into account as well. I think that the resulting album represents this diversity and is not dominated by the rules of griot music or the balafon tradition. Respect towards these traditions is distinctly a part of the resulting sound.

During the writing process, my knowledge increased regarding several aspects, especially in the field of balafon music. I was aware that the balafon is among the storytelling instruments of the griots. The studies I read regarding the balafon provided more precise information on how a language can be transposed to music. I also got verification in several sources that some of the language-related balafon phrases are sacred. Their purpose can be explained only for initiated persons.

The concepts of micro timing and non-isochronous subdivision were familiar to me before. During this research, I found out that they are a fundamental part of the West African groove, which Western musicians often underestimate. These phenomenons are challenging to teach to people that are not born to a musical culture that features them. They should be considered in projects related to transcultural music. This study gave me new ideas how to teach these phenomenons, and I will keep studying them further in my master’s project.

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