Music
Press
Djan Djan
Mamadou Diabate, Jeff Lang & Bobby Singh.
Instrumental/MGM - Australia
5 stars
There is, in this short mini album of just over 30 minutes, an overflow of musical brilliance to indicate that we are present at the genesis of a remarkable combination.
Mamadou Diabate, from Mali, whose solo kora (harp) recording Douga Mansa was a highlight of 2008, is joined by brilliant Australian slide guitarist Jeff Lang and Indian tabla virtuoso Bobby Singh on five tracks, recorded in one day in March 2008 in Mellbourne.
Fusions of kora and guitar are not new. Mamadou’s cousin Toumani Diabate played with Taj Mahal on the bluesy Kulanjan, and well known string wizard Bob Brozman joined forces with Djeli Moussa Diawara on the exotic travelogue Ocean Blues, to name but two excellent examples.
This collaboration however is exquisite and sets a benchmark. It is a sublime blend.
The trio composition MamaLangSingh has a rolling insistent delicious riff, contrasted by the initial restraint of Lang and Singh’s tender She said She felt Broken, beginning in intimacy and rising through ecstasy.
This is something special and wonderful.
Michael Rofe
- The Australian
The sympatico and interplay between the three literally has to be heard to be believed: to this end, I enthusiastically endorse the tour and mini-album out now; indeed, there's no better showcase of the fruits of the collective's spontaneous labours of love (but a day of recording at Melbourne's 30 Mill studios) than Mama Lang Singh, from the mini-album. As touted, this was & is a dialogue between devotees of different forms, which form a transcendent, separate other.
Diabate, Lang & Singh meld mellifluously. While solo kora takes some exposure & experience to get inside ('though I was dumbstruck by the traditional song structures' affinity with the blues), this almost definitive world musical trio breathtakingly demonstrates what synergy really means. If only political compatibility were so effortlessly achieved, peace might have that very chance of which Lennon dared to dream.
lloyd bradford (brad) syke
- Australian Stage
Discography
1x LP.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Mamadou Diabate, Bobby Singh and Jeff Lang are well known and well regarded for their individual output and careers. Djan Djan is a new collaboration which sees each musician stretch their imaginations and skills into sublime areas of musicality. Although the players show their respects to their musical backgrounds of Africa, India and Australia; the music of Djan Djan stands alone as uniquely new sound.
Mamadou Diabate was destined to play the kora. Cousin of legendary kora
Player Toumani Diabate, who was one of his most influential teachers,
Mamadou was born and raised in the griot tradition of Mali, using music and
Oratory to preserve his people's consciousness of their past. From his Grammy-award nominated solo album, to his latest "solo" release Douga Mansa (King Vulture), Mamadou's technical virtuosity and innovative approach have kept him in high demand internationally. www.mamadoukora.com
Jeff Lang has earned worldwide acclaim as a guitarist, dynamic songwriter
and startlingly unique live performer, defying description and genres.
His intuitive and idiosyncratic instrumental virtuosity are supported
by songs that expand the boundaries of traditional folk, country and blues,
creating a new blend of music which is undeniably and deeply steeped in
tradition,yet with its vision set on future horizons. As an instrumental storyteller, Lang gives the guitar a voice and then makes it sing. www.jefflang.com.au
Bobby Singh (Tarlochan Kandola) spent much of his childhood in Mumbai studying tabla. Recognised with a great talent, Bobby is the disciple of Aneesh Pradhan, one of the world's most sought after tabla players. Nurtured into a mature, internationally renowned tabla virtuoso, both in traditional Indian and cross-cultural genres, Bobby has played with many of the top musicians in Australia and the world. www.myspace.com/bobbysinghtabla
Kora, guitar and tabla come together in unity with Mamadou Diabate,
Jeff Lang and Bobby Singh exploring the connection they discovered
in a small music studio in Melbourne, Australia in March 2008.
When the three musicians met, no one could quite predict the musical
alchemy that would occur as a result. A spontaneous day of recording at
30 Mill Studios lead to an astonishingly beautiful and surprisingly natural recording that displays the conversational and virtuosic style that all three are renowned for.
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