Jumbie Artist Websites
BernardWoma.com – website of our resident genius of the Gyil xylophone of Ghana
Sunkwa – The energetic new band lead by Kofi Ameyaw (of the Bernard Woma Trio)
Imaginary Homeland.com – virtual address of Jumbie's own Afro-Appalachian-Jazz utopia
Életfa – Raul's dance-frenzied Hungarian folk band
Fula Flute – amazing blend of West African flute, balafon, kora, and singing, led by Dallam-Dougou's Sylvain Leroux
House of Illusion –"a band with few boundaries," combining jazz, pop, punk rock, classical, and funk; co-led by Matt Pavolka, bassist of Imaginary Homeland
AvramFefer.com – the multi-talented reed-player of Dallam-Dougou
Websites of Other Bands We Dig:
Steve Espinola's pages – Dallam-Dougou's resident keyboardist is also a songwriter, prankster, melodic shortwave radio virtuoso and inventor of the 19-string "Grand Slam" Electric Tennis Racket.
New York's amazing Balkan brass group, Zlatne Uste
Macaco – a slyly inventive indie-rock-world-music collage of a band; we discovered this Catalan group on a recent trip to Barcelona, but have no idea why their website has a .to (Tonga) address.
Troka – is our favorite Finnish nouveau-folkloric string band. These guys know how to rock (we loved the Metallica-like harmonium at the Knitting Factory show a couple years back), but it's all sweetness from the strings and accordion over the mixed-meter poslkas...
Great World Music Artists Who Should Have a Site, But Don't (links to Google)
Pan-African Orchestra – modernist composer Nana Danso Abiam leads this symphony of traditional African instruments in an innovative take on a host of traditions
Mamar Kassey – we were utterly transported by this Niger band's NYC show, mixing Sahelian lutes, electric guitar, talking drums, flute, and vocals
Ba Cissoko – ever heard a Guinean kora (harp) played through a wa-wa pedal? This Marseilles-based band pours forth an intoxicating brew of Hendrix, Marley, and their own native griot traditions
***
Keep up on these bands...
and others. Sign up for the mailing list to get reviews, news, and concert picks from the Jumbie Journal.