Bal du Kor: West African Trio

Three veteran performers/composers/recording artists join forces to create an enchanting blend of traditional and original West African melodies and rhythms. The heart of this dynamic and captivating ensemble are the indigenous instruments balafon (marimba), dun-dun (talking drum), and kora (harp), combined with alto flute, ukulele, melodica, djembe, djun-djuns, shekere, bells, tambourine, and vocals. The band’s emotional range spans from the delicate and longing to the inspiring and ecstatic, while its collective cosmopolitan backgrounds give birth to unpredictable musical excursions.
 
FEATURING:
Michael Smolens – balafon, djun-djuns, shakers, bell, dumbek, tambourine, alto flute, melodica, vocals
Ben Issacs – djembe, dun-dun, udu, shekere, bell, cajon
Daniel Berkman – kora, djembe, bell, tambourine, electric ukulele, vocals
 
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Michael Smolens leads a host of different trios, quintets, and large ensembles. Whereas all of these other groups are highly arranged, Bal du Kor is primarily improvised, combining his love for free improvisation with his fascination for West African music. Smolens has been composing for nearly a half a century and freely incorporates colors, moods, and arranging concepts from a multitude of influences. His primary sources of inspiration include modern jazz, modern vocal flights, 20th-century classical, North Indian classical, contemporary Brazilian music, accompanied Sufi poetry, and stage magic. His works have been recorded by jazz legends Stefon Harris, Paul McCandless, and Pandit Zakir Hussain. Smolens is also a veteran teacher, consultant, author, and poet.

Ben Isaacs (“Professor Slap”) has been playing music his whole life. Starting with violin at age seven, he played trumpet, guitar, piano, voice, clarinet, and saxophone during his youth. When 19, he was introduced to West African percussion and started a passionate connection with hand percussion that has grown for the last three decades. At the same time, he started playing bass and has been working with the instrument in many different styles—from American funk, rock, jazz, and R&B to working with many African artists from different countries on the African continent. P-Slap has traveled four times to West Africa to better understand the culture from which the music comes and to study with master percussionists there, as well as here in the U.S. His teachers include Abdoulaye Diakite, Karamba Dioubate, Abdoul Doumbia, Mabiba Bagne, Sulemon Diop, Dibi Diop-Faye, Mohammed Camara, Moussa Traore, Diop Percussion, Bolocada Conde, Mamady Keita, Fara Tolna, and others.

Daniel Berkman is a composer, multi-instrumentalist (keyboard, guitar, percussion, drum set), vocalist, electronic musician, RTFM recording artist, and innovator on the kora—a 21-stringed harp from West Africa. Upon finding this ancient jewel in 1996, Berkman wasted no time in unearthing the kora’s compositional and sonic potential, first by exploring its rich heritage of traditional playing techniques and repertoire, then by extending its electronic possibilities through devices such as the Whammy Pedal and the Oberheim Echoplex. His first three albums—Heartstrings, Feverdreams, and Headlands—mark this period between 1996 and 2000 which feature Berkman creating other worldly soundscapes and a playing technique drawing on his myriad influences. His latest work, Calabashmoon (2005), is a collection of crafty and poignant kora pieces woven into a tapestry of recorded samples and impressions of West Africa.
 
Learn more: Website

 
Time: 7:00pm doors / 7:30pm show
Admission: $20-25 sliding scale. A limited quantity of additional tickets will be available for purchase at the door.
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