Fimber
Bravo:
Since leaving Trinidad, Bravo has recordedsteel pan
on albums with artists as diverse as Winifred Atwell and Morcheeba.
With the prestigious Pan Am North Stars he played throughout
the world at venues like Carnegie Hall.
As a founder member of Twentieh Century Steel Band he recorded
two albums as lead pan on United Artists , including the cult
classic track "Heaven and Hell" on the seminal album
"ColdSteel, Warm Heart".
Kadialy Kouyate:
Kadialy Kouyate grew up in Southern Senegal. His maternal
grandmother, Kediaw Drame, herself a griot, introduced Kadialy
to a grat wealth of songs and stories developping his cora
playing and singing skills.
The kouyate family name is associated within the maninka with
the class of hereditary artisans whose profession is music.
Known as a Jeli (or in French, Griot) they are responsible
for keeping the history and the music.
SMALL
TALK
The Album "Small Talk" came about one night in
Break House in Oxfordshire when Bravo met Kadialy Kouyate,
the kora player, for the first time. The musicians started
to play together for friends and family present. Kadialy had
not encountered the steel pan before. Bravo, in order to achieve
a more intimate sound played his pan, without a stand, on
his lap. 'Small Talk' - the title track, 'Remembering' and
'We Are The Same' were all born of that first night of improvisation
together. The album also has a number of tracks written individually
by both Bravo and Kadialy. Kadialy sings and plays both his
versions of traditional songs, songs which often tell stories
and his own original music. Bravo has composed songs inspired
by the old Kaiso storytelling tradition of the Caribbean.
Small Talk has fused two traditions of Africa and the Caribbean,
from the Griot and the Calypsonian, together with their traditional
instruments, the Kora and the Steel Pan, in an innovative
and contemporary way.
press & radio reviews
"One of the best and most surprising CD's in the year!
Rather remarkable. Great! One of my CD's of the year, rather
wonderful!"
Andy Kershaw BBC Radio3
"It's magic - Completely unique. Look out for it, it's
an excellent album"
Lucy Duran World Roots BBC Radio3
"A tapestry of multi-hued beauty... the playing is faultless
throughout - A splendid mix ...seamlessly blended to create
something new"
Songlines
"The delightfully small talk!"
Shaheera asante - Late Junction
BBC Radio3
"A wonderful platform for exploration and fulfillment
...perfectly capturing the joy that musicians feel creating
something unique together ...a little bit magical..."
Sing Out
"Small Talk - One of this year's pleasanter surprises,
such a pleasure, a delicate and lyrical affair ...easy to
warm to"
FRoots
"One of top five African albums"
Rita Mae World Music DJ (BBC.co.uk)
"A gem, a stand-out cut diamond of a record, a jewel
in the crown. A musical concept of great beauty in this historic
meeting of steel pan and kora."
Charles Easman - The African
Caribbean Music circuit
"Numbers which defy the listener to stay still...Bravo-Bravo
play as they have no respect for anyone on God's earth...food
for thought...strident and thoughtfully arranged...Riddims
to sweat to for sure...capture Bravo-Bravo!"
The Caribbean Times
"Mesmerizing Steel Pan"
Dazed and Confused
"Fimber Bravo and young Senegalese kora player Kadialy
Kouyate found a common thread, and proceeded to weave it into
a tapestry of multi-hued beauty..It really worked those two
instruments (the steel pan and kora) coming together."
Andy Kershaw BBC Radio 3 |
