By Evangeline Kim, Afropop Board Member
Photos by Louise D. Chang, Afropop Events Editor
May 30, 2007

Live and die with the balafon. – Senufo proverb 

Carnegie Hall in collaboration with Harlem Stage/Aaron Davis Hall, recently presented what Banning Eyre, Afropop’s Senior Editor, pronounced a “magical” Global Encounters Music of Mali Neighborhood Concert, by featuring a rare appearance by Neba Solo and his ensemble of 8 musicians - on 2 balafons, lower and higher pitched, hand-struck bara drums, drum-kit, calabash percussion, and karinyan, a softly ringing metal scraper - and 2 dancers.  Born Souleymane Traore, Solo (short for Souleymane) grew up in the Senufo village of Nebadougou, located near Sikasso, the second largest city in Mali. 

It seemed ages ago that in 2003, Solo made his first U.S. appearance in Washington D.C.’s Smithsonian Folk Festival, where his band captivated thousands of visitors.  His 90 minute long concert in New York was as elegant as it was mesmerizing with gentle, modal patterns, and subtle shifts to stretches of quickening jig-like syncopations. His two male dancers, in perfect unison, leapt, skipped and hopped across the stage with exquisitely intricate, gazelle-like footwork.  As if transported to a moonlit evening in Solo’s village, streams of dancers from the audience, enticed by the most unusual musical harmonies, continuously filled the stage. 

Since the mid ‘90s, Neba Solo has emerged in Mali as a traditionalist and an innovating force in the art of the Senufo balafon. Once perceived as a village instrument not suitable for modern music, his balafon now captivates urban crowds in Mali and internationally.  His reed-like tenor voice, carrying the coolness of pentatonic melodies, punctuated by rhythmic accents and phrasings, enhances the resonating texture of his lower-pitched, buzzing balafon.  The constant interplay with his brother, Siaka Traore, on higher-pitched balafon produces a haunting liquescence and almost dream-like quality.

Trained since childhood by his virtuoso balafon-playing father, Solo began to investigate the possibilities of improving the sonority of the instrument in the late ‘80s.  He achieved this by altering his traditional 17-slat balafon, adding three more bass slats and altering the tuning.  By playing the solo lines with his left hand on the lower bass slats and accompaniment with his right hand, he created newer and complex textures.  His catchy dance rhythms have been sampled and embraced by international DJ’s, including French Frédéric Galliano. 

Solo’s compositions, sung in Senufo and Bambara, are commentaries on social issues that inform and encourage dialogue:  preservation of custom and tradition in daily life; the importance of environmental protection; vaccination for children; the danger of AIDS; abolishment of female excision; and political integrity.

In 2002, Mali conferred one of the country’s highest honors on Neba Solo: “Chevalier de l’Ordre National.”

Siya, a group of talented, young Mande musicians living in New York, led by kora master, Yacouba Sissoko and balafon, tamani and djembe players, were the opening act for the evening.  Balla Tounkara, a progressive jeli singer from Kita, delivered impassioned songs from the classic Mande jeli repertoire.
































Contributed by: Louise Chang, Evangeline Kim

First published: www.afropop.org