Trio Ivoire - Trio Ivoire

Born in 1969 in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and raised in Mali, balafon player Aly Keita comes from a Malinké family that has been keeping to the musical tradition of the "Griots." Keita discovered jazz in the eighties and soon started to adapt his self-constructed diatonic instruments to diverse modern styles. He and his brothers also built the biggest balafon of the world. Virtuoso Keita has performed in Africa, Europe and the USA with players like Pharoah Sanders, Paco Sery and Lukas Ligeti. In 1999 he met well-known German jazz pianist Hans Lüdemann who toured West Africa in commission of the Goethe Institutes and the German Foreign Office. A jazz professor in Cologne, Lüdemann has worked with Jan Garbarek, Mark Feldman, Paul Bley and many others and released several CDs with his band Rism. The black and white keys of his piano and the wooden bars of Keita's balafon connected immediately and the first concert together became a great success. So Lüdemann prepared some new music and he and Keita decided to add Steve Argüelles as the third man in this project. An experimental musician and composer, Argüelles is an important part of the London jazz scene but also very active in France where he has been living since 1992. A rather bizarre ensemble, Trio Ivoire gives us a new transcontinental vision far beyond the stereotypes of world music.
Trio Ivoire was finally founded in Germany with the support of the WDR radio who co-produced this recording. During the studio sessions kora master Tata Dindin from Gambia came by and joined the trio on two pieces. He is best known for exploring contemporary music on the kora and for leading the Gambian electric band "Salam." The music on this CD is an original mixture of polyrhythmic textures and motivic improvisation displaying the virtues of West African tradition, American jazz, European classical and minimal music. Some tunes keep within the limits of harmonic traditions, others go into polytonality and throw a totally new light on the balafon. In turn, the African instrument adds a dark and earthy timbre to the piano. The percussionist completes the colors with his rhythmic fire and strange ideas. Trio Ivoire made its live debuts in 2000 in Abidjan upon the 30th anniversary of the Goethe Institute and in Hannover at the EXPO 2000. And that was only the beginning. - from enjarecords.com

Artist: Trio Ivoire
Album: Trio Ivoire
Year: 1999
Quality: eac-flac, cue, log, artw.
Label: Enja (2000)
Runtime: 58:11

Tracks:
1.  Ella est la (Hans Lüdemann) 7:09
2.  Kano (Hans Lüdemann/Jobarteh Kunda) 5:14
3.  I Ivory (Suite Africaine) (Steve Argüelles) 1:08
4.  II Malingakan (Suite Africaine) (Aly Keita) 4:09
5.  III Trio Ivoire (Suite Africaine) (Steve Argüelles/Aly Keita/Hans Lüdemann) 3:54
6.  Le signal (Hans Lüdemann) 7:46
7.  L'arrivée (Hans Lüdemann) 5:07
8.  Le mystere (Hans Lüdemann) 5:03
9.  The Touch (Hans Lüdemann) 4:13
10.  Les adieux (Hans Lüdemann) 5:50
11.  The virtual piano I (Hans Lüdemann) 3:14
12.  Le balafon blanc et noir (Hans Lüdemann) 5:24

Personnel:
Aly Keita (Balafon)
Hans Lüdemann (Piano, Prepared Piano, Whistling)
Steve Argüelles (Drums, Electronics)
Tata Dindin (Kora, Voice) - 2,10