Dembo Konte & Kausu Kuyateh - Kairaba Jabi

More kora music. This time, a traditional kora duet with singing. Sweet. Pure. Heavenly and gorgeous.

"The kora is sounding, the drums are sounding, Saliya is lying dead. The people of Niomi Juffure are weeping... I am afraid of death-the loneliness of being left behind." - from the song "Saliya"

Since 1987, Gambia's Dembo Konte and Senegal's Kausu Kuyateh have toured worldwide as the best international ambassadors of the kora, West Africa's multi-stringed harp-lute. Their duo albums have been acclaimed as the most accessible from this fabulous tradition: here's a 76+ minute selection of the best, including lots on CD for the first time.

Kausu Kuyateh is one of first jelis or hereditary musicians to add extra bass strings to the kora. Born in Guinea-Bissau, which was part of the ancient Kabou empire, Kausu with his 24 string kora, is renowned for his masterful version of the musical style, called Yeyengo. This style is played in a kora tuning know as Tomora Ba. The tuning has a bluesy minor sound, similar to the western dorian mode.


On "Kairaba Jabi" jeli Kausu Kuyateh and Dembo Konte, play and sing with a passion that is unmatched! This compact disc includes all the tracks from their 1987 release. "Simbomba--The Great Hunter", (now out of print).

"The interplay of the two is fascinating, as they twist and turn around the melody, fighting against each other and then suddenly forming a unison that shimmers up and down a scale before parting ways again." - Cliff Furnald, Dirty Linen (1990)

"Nothing is ever quite the same after the first time you hear a kora played live in a West African setting. Dembo Konte was the musician who opened my ears, and he made these recordings with Kausu Kuyateh soon afterwards. They still sound powerful and raw, evocative and timeless." Charlie Gillett, 1998.


Dembo Konte & Kausu Kuyateh - Kairaba Jabi

Year: 1987/1994
Label: Weekend Beatnik

Tracks
1 Kairaba Jabi 4:26
2 Simbomba 4:11
3 Ngaleng Sonko 8:27
4 Saliya 6:37
5 Mamma Maneh 4:58
6 Mammadu Sanyang 4:14
7 Demba Hajada 3:37
8 Banta Toure 7:15
9 Yeyengo 6:19
10 Tiramakhan 6:33
11 Fayinkunko 8:53
12 Sunkariba 6:01
13 Solo 3:52

it takes two to solo.
mp3 256kbps | w/ cover | 122mb

and get some more kora music over at Freedom Blues!