Hawa & Kasse Mady Diabate - Toumaro - VINYL LP

Jim Cutler anchors a weekly JC Jazz Orchestra every Sunday at Tulas Restaurant, Seattle's most popular local-jazz hangout. Of this quartet outing, All About Jazz says the JCQ delivers twelve tracks, of which all but one are original compositions mostly. Pony boy records. 2005.

Vinyl LP pressing. The story-songs Farafina unleash on percussion (including djembe, tama and the thundering doumdouba bass drum; on flute, kora, soukou violin and two wooden balafon xylophones) were co-written by the many ensemble members, each of them steeped in the ancient art of the Manding griots. Call-and-response is frequent. Communication (between musicians, musicians and producers, the music and the listener) is key. Dancing is inevitable.

180 gram vinyl. First released in 1988, Kaira was the debut album by Toumani Diabaté, master player of the kora - the West African harp with 21 strings. Kaira remains one of the most important and influential kora albums of all time. It was the first international to feature a solo kora without voice. The album turned Toumani into a star overnight, whilst also establishing the kora's reputation as one of Africa's most captivating and versatile indigenous instruments. Kaira is now reissued on vinyl for the first time, as part of Chrysalis Records' acclaimed series of reissues of the music of Toumani Diabaté. Remastered from the production masters by Phil Kinrade, and cut by Jasper Ward, at AIR Mastering. Pressed on 180g vinyl and housed in a poly-lined inner sleeve. The album is accompanied by a 12Inch x 12Inch double-sided insert with new sleeve notes and previously unseen photographs by co-producer Lucy Durán.Kaira is also reissued on CD, in a 4-panel digisleeve with 8-page booklet.