I spent an enjoyable evening yesterday listening to a West African Mandé‑jazz ensemble (based in London) called Balimaya Project. They played Snape Maltings, part of Britten Pairs Art.
The energy and sheer joyousness of African music has been a soundtrack to my entire life. From the strains of Paul Simon's 'Graceland' and its inspiration in township jive (Mbaqanga) to Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Youssou N'Dour, Angélique Kidjo, Lucky Dube, Tuku (Oliver Mtukudzi), Brenda Fassie, Mango Groove, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Chartwell Dutiro, Mokoomba, Kanda Bongo Man. It was always there, whether I was consciously listening to or assimilating it as it drifted from shops, homes or the thrum of Harare's streets.
I still recall the strains of Kwassa Kwassa and Ghanaian Highlife drifting into the car as I forged my way through townships — past commuter omnibuses and bustling shebeens — on my journey home through the warm African night after cross country trips. That music was as formative then as the sound is evocative now.
While I think Mandé‑jazz is the best way of describing the collective, they're more genre-fluid and labelling their music feels a disservice to their exceptional musicianship. It emphatically doesn't belong in the record store's marketing rubric of 'world music'.
Balimaya's music is on Qobuz, predominantly in hi-res (24-bit / 48hz) but they also have a number of concerts on their YouTube Channel.
Born to a Nigerian mother and a Senegalese father, Yahael Camara Onono grew up surrounded by the rhythms of the diaspora while also absorbing the multi-genre lingua franca of London’s hybrid music scenes, developing what he calls a ‘London ear’ for the way the city’s jazz, grime and funky house sounds were underpinned by African and Caribbean rhythmic influence.
Fuelled by a desire to redefine West African music’s diasporic journey, Camara Onono assembled a 16-piece band, uniting generations and backgrounds in a celebration of cultural fusion.
‘I’ve always wanted to do something that is an accurate representation of how West African music is perceived in the diaspora, and how it comes into contact with other genres and something that accurately expresses my musical trajectory,’ he explains.
From the grooves of Nahawa Doumbia to the beats of Vybz Kartel, Balimaya Project weaves a tapestry of influences, bridging continents and genres.
Balimaya Project embraces the ‘third culture’ of second-generation migrants, drawing on the talent and expertise of London-based musicians from Burkina Faso to the Gambia to engage intentionally with the musical and cultural nuances often overlooked in the discourse around music from the African continent.
