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CD
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STCD 1130CD
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There is a quiet confidence to I Met Her By The River, Dawda Jobarteh's third album for Sterns Africa. While the kora master's technique is prodigious, it's always subservient to the song. And although the songs contain beautiful moments of contemplation, they are never facile or saccharine. Their beauty and intricacy connote no loss of power or slackening of intent. The excellent support of his longtime friends and sidemen notwithstanding, this new album is definitely the work of a singular artist. Jobarteh's repertoire choices reflect both his birth and history in Gambia and his life and home in Denmark. In songs such as "Karang Folo" and "Sidi Yella", you hear the musician who is the grandson of the world-renowned kora player Alhaji Bai Konté; the youngest son of Amadou Bansang Jobarteh, the favorite musician of Gambia's first president; and the nephew of Dembo Konté and Malamini Jobarteh, the kora duo that Sterns first recorded in 1985. Elsewhere you hear other traditions and styles that Dawda has effortlessly absorbed into his own. "Jeg Gik Mig U Den Sommerdag" (which translates from Danish as "I Went Out On A Summer's Day") has a Scandinavian melody that dates back at least to the 17th century and words set in the 19th century, and has since become a perennial summertime favorite in Denmark. But Dawda Jobarteh has more than two sides to him. A world traveler, he appreciates the multifarious cultural influences beyond his personal West African-Northern European axis, and so it shouldn't be surprising, really, that he plays Mongo Santamaria's jazz classic "Afro Blue" on an electrified kora, or that he delivers an exquisite rendition of Adele's multi-million-selling pop hit, "Hello". And then of course there are his own highly original songs, such as the album's title track, a wistful kora solo, or "Begging Boys", a clear-eyed, heartfelt piece of social commentary. Dawda Jobarteh is, after all, a 21st-century citizen of the world -- as everyone is. I Met Her By The River, the third album by the Gambian composer, has been described as "absolutely beautiful", "a gorgeous synthesis of the old and the new", and "a joyful noise from a man right at home in very different musical and geographical places."
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STCD 1128CD
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While it's true that Dawda Jobarteh was born into an illustrious Gambian family of griots, hereditary court musicians and especially kora players (his father was Amadou Bansang Jobarteh, his uncles were Dembo Konté and Malamini Jobarteh, and his grandfather was the great Alhaji Bai Konté), it doesn't necessarily follow that he upholds family tradition. Griots learn their craft and repertoire over many years of study with their elders, starting in childhood, but Dawda was an adult when he picked up a kora for the first time, and by then he was far from Africa, his elders, and their tradition. Living in Copenhagen, he was a drummer in jazz and rock bands. But the sound of the kora, even in his untrained hands, tugged his ear and stirred deep memories and feelings. He taught himself to play the 21-string harp, figuring out the classics he remembered from his youth and composing new music in untraditional styles. He recorded his debut album, Northern Light Gambian Night, for Sterns Africa in 2011 (STCD 1112CD). All About Jazz praised its "gorgeous synthesis of the old and the new"; Songlines described it as "an album of delicacy and beauty" and awarded it five stars; and ABC Radio called it "a joyful noise from a man right at home in very different musical and geographic places." In the five years since then, Jobarteh has traveled widely, performing in Europe and Asia, returning to Gambia and touring other African nations, but Denmark, where he lives with his wife and three children, has been and will remain his base. And "right at home in very different musical and geographic places" still characterizes him and his art. "Winter Trees Stand Sleeping", the kora solo that begins his new album and gently evokes piano nocturnes by Scandinavian composers like Edvard Grieg, and compare it with "Dalua", a piece firmly rooted in Gambian griot jaliya. "Jamming in the Fifth Dimension" is an unbridled improvisational duet between Jobarteh, playing an electric kora, and percussionist Salieu Dibba, and "Transition" is a John Coltrane tune. Dawda's expansive worldview is reflected in his words as well as in his music. He wrote "Bright Sky Over Monrovia" for a play about Liberian blood diamonds. "Efe" decries the way arbitrary borders and immigration policies divide families. When he sings about his own family, his perspective is rounded and nuanced, as in "Mba Sina", which is both critical of polygamy and appreciative of his mother's co-wife. Dawda Jobarteh honors his heritage while never letting it confine him.
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STCD 1112CD
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Taking his musical training from a Mandé griot upbringing, Dawda Jobarteh creates an intense contemporary vision of an ancient tradition. With the support of long-term friends and band members, Preben Carlsen on guitar, Nana Osibio on bass and Salieu Dibba on percussion and including some deeply personal statements, Dawda weaves his distinctive kora-playing through modern musical landscapes. Jobarteh's musical heritage carries considerable weight. His grandfather was Alhaji Bai Konte, the first kora player to take the instrument to the U.S.; Dawda's father is kora player Amadou Bansang Jobarteh and his uncles Malamini Jobarteh and Dembo Konte together 26 years ago recorded the seminal kora album Jaliya for Sterns Music.
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