Mandinka music in the spotlight

The rich strains of the n´goni filtered out into the brisk November air at the Solbosch campus of the ULB Free University of Brussels earlier this week. 

His roots may be in Algeria but for Brussels-based singer Yani Aït Aoudia it was the music of the Mandinka cultural region that stirred his soul. His versatility across percussion and string instruments is testament to a decade of training with Aboubakar Traoré one of the up-and-coming talents of the Mandinka musical tradition in Burkina Faso.

As he shared his immersion into the Mandinka culture that stretches across Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Côte d´Ivoire, Yani Fola as he is also known took his listeners on a musical journey playing a custom-made 14-string n´goni. Interwoven through the music was a history of the kamélé n´goni, a harp-like string instrument that is experiencing something of a renaissance as musicians from far and wide come to appreciate its value. Originally a six-stringed instrument played by hunters, the n´goni has evolved to include more strings, such as the 16-string version favoured by Aboubakar Traoré.

The midday session closed with Yani Aït Aoudia encouraging the audience in an impromtu sing-along that was perhaps more hesitant than tuneful. He ended the hour joking, ¨You have good rythmn running through your veins, but poor circulation!¨

For the spontaneous the Cercle de Voyageurs near the Grand Place hosts the Aboubakar Traoré Trio tonight Thursday 20 November. Yani Fola this time on percussion shares the stage with mentor Aboubakar Traoré and Brussels-based musician Sofiane Remadna. The trio will return later this month at the MuziekPublique at Porte de Namur on Saturday 29 November. Rounding off the evening, Malian singer Kasse Mady Diabaté supported by a trio of instrumentalists will continue the voyage into Mandinka music.

The MuziekPublique concert is part of the AfricAlive initiative that will also see artists from Congo, Zimbabwe and Madagascar play at their Molière venue over the coming month.  

MuziekCulture, a partnership of MuziekPublique and PointCulture, is a series of free concerts showcasing a particular instrument or group of instruments and the related culture

For those impatient to make their own music, MuziekPublique organises courses in a huge variety of world music instruments to satisfy even the most adventurous. West-African string instruments, Brazilian percussion, Galician bagpipes and even the Irish tin-whistle are just a flavour of what´s on offer.

And for those content to simply listen, every Wednesday the PointCulture of the ULB invites you to put “some sound on your sandwich” offering tea and coffee together with a lunchtime musical experience.