CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Derek Gripper
Trio Da Kali
In his search for new directions in African music, South African guitarist Derek Gripper began transcribing the kora (harp-lute) music of Malian masters Toumani Diabaté, Ballaké Sissoko, and others for classical guitar. The Malian tradition is also represented by Trio Da Kali, a group of musicians from the Mandé culture of southern Mali who come from a long line of distinguished griots (oral historians / praise singers).
Performers
Derek Gripper, Guitar
Trio Da Kali
·· Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté, Vocals
·· Lassana Diabaté, Balafon
·· Mamadou Kouyaté, Bass Ngoni
Event Duration
The program will last approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.Presented by Carnegie Hall in partnership with Robert Browning Associates LLC.
The Music
African Guitar
Derek Gripper began studying the playing techniques of the kora in 2009 by
learning traditional Malian compositions. Two years later, he had a
breakthrough: By using the simple textural language of the vihuela Spanish
renaissance lute, it was possible to play the highly complex kora compositions
of Malian virtuoso Toumani Diabaté on the six-string guitar without omitting a
note of the original performances. Gripper’s project to create an African
repertoire for the classical guitar, based on transcriptions of works by some
of Africa’s greatest musicians, resulted in a growing collection of outstanding
African guitar arrangements, with works by Toumani Diabaté, Ballaké Sissoko,
Ali Farka Touré, Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, Madosini, and others, bringing the
guitar and the music of Africa to life in new and exciting ways.
Bios
Derek Gripper
Derek Gripper's exploration of Mali's greatest instrumental virtuosos has created a new
form of classical guitar music out of one of Africa's richest musical traditions. His
ninth album, One Night on Earth: Music from the Strings of Mali, was recorded
in a single all-night session. The album magically conjures anew a centuries-old
African musical heritage, interpreting the kora compositions of Malian
virtuoso Toumani Diabaté on solo guitar.
When Diabaté heard these recordings, he asked producer Lucy Durán to confirm that she had
actually seen one person play this music on just one guitar. Diabaté immediately invited
Gripper to collaborate with him in Mali-an invitation that led to Gripper performing
at the Festival Acoustik de Bamako in early 2016, the first international festival
held in Mali since the 2012 coup. Gripper has also performed multiple times in London with
John Williams, as well as globally as a solo artist and with classical Indian slide
guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya, with whom he will continue to collaborate in 2017.
His newest album, Libraries on Fire, showcases his ability to speak the
language of the griots as fluently as the West African masters, who he says
"enlarge our idea of what a composer is and perhaps bring us closer to the music of early
European classical music." One of the pieces from this album was arranged for the Kronos
Quartet.
Gripper's most recent work incorporates transcriptions and improvisations centered
around the work of African composer-performers--such as Madosini from South Africa;
Ali Farka Touré, Ballaké Sissoko, Salif Keita, and Fanta Sacko from Mali; and Amadu Bansang
Jobarteh from the Gambia--as well as his own original compositions based on music from the
Western Cape of South Africa and beyond.
Gripper began his formal musical training at the age of six on the violin. After studying
classical music in Cape Town for 13 years, he began to look further afield for musical
inspiration. This search took him to India, where he studied South Indian music. Upon his
return home, he began to focus on the guitar, trying to find a new direction for the
instrument. He was attracted to the use of multiple layers in the music of Olivier Messiaen
and the African-influenced structures of Steve Reich, as well as to guitar
arrangements of music by J. S. Bach. After a host of groundbreaking albums that
redefined the landscape of South African music--most notably the
visionary Sagtevlei with Alex van Heerden--Gripper began to incorporate
the music of other composers into his performances. His long-time fascination with the
music of Brazilian Egberto Gismonti led to a project of guitar transcriptions (alongside
his own compositions) on the 2012 release The Sound of
Water, which was nominated for a South African Music Award for the Best
Classical/Instrumental Album.
Gripper's work continues to explore the line between improvisation and classical
interpretation, applying lessons he's learned from the great masters of Africa to
everything from composition to the interpretation of music by J. S. Bach.
Trio Da Kali
Trio Da Kali, composed of musicians from the
Mandé culture of southern Mali who come from a long line of distinguished griots (oral
historians / praise singers), aims to bring a contemporary twist to ancient and neglected
repertoires. It takes its name from one of the oldest and most iconic praise songs in the
griot repertoire: "Da kali" (translated as "to make a pledge"). The trio was initiated
by the Aga Khan Music Initiative, a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, in order to
collaborate with the Kronos Quartet. Following the debut appearance of the collaboration in
2014, the two groups came together again to perform at the 2015 Montreux Jazz
Festival.
Trio Da Kali has appeared at some of the world's most prestigious venues. It made its
first international appearance in 2013 at the BBC Proms in London, followed by performances
with Toumani Diabaté at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris and the London Jazz Festival. This
year's appearances include Celtic Connections in Glasgow; the British Library as part of
its exhibition West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song; the Festival del Centro Histórico
in Mexico City; and the Cully Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Last year, Trio Da Kali's
recorded repertoire was brought to an international market with an EP produced by Lucy
Durán for World Circuit.
The trio's vocalist, Hawa Kassé Mady
Diabaté,is the daughter of
legendary singer Kassé Mady Diabaté. She has been
compared to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson and is acclaimed as one of Mali's finest griot
voices. She performs the songs she grew up with in Kela, located at the heart of the griot
world. She appeared at the India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi with Indian Sufi gospel
creator Sonam Kalra, and this summer sang in Terry Riley's In C Mali at Les Nuits
de Fourvière in France and the Holland Festival. Hawa performed on set and contributed
repertoire to the remake of the 1977 hit miniseries Roots, which aired earlier
this year.
Master balafon player Lassana Diabaté, the
trio's musical director, began playing at the age of five with his father, master musician
Djelisory Diabaté, and later apprenticed himself to the celebrated El Hadj Djeli Sory
Kouyaté and Alkali Camara. He has recorded and toured with many of West Africa's foremost
musicians, and was a member of Afrocubism and Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra. He
performed on set in the remake of Roots and contributed to the Kronos Quartet's
Fifty for the Future commissioning project with his work Sunjata's
Time.
Bass ngoni player Mamadou Kouyaté, the eldest son of renowned ngoni
player Bassekou Kouyaté, is one of Mali's most creative musicians of the new
generation. He tours and records with his father's group, Ngoniba, and also runs his own
studio in Bamako.
This program marks Trio Da Kali's New York debut.