I met a man yesterday from Burkina Faso while on a walk with Big Bert Stillwell. His name is Adama Dembele and he plays a big string instrument he constructed himself out of a calabash. It was a cool mixture of pretty (lots of brass tacks) and wonkily-unfinished-looking. He was
busking in Washington Square Park and his music reminded me of some I'd heard in Ghana, but he was singing in French.
Here are some pictures of calabashes:
Calabashes are used for bowls and toys as well as musical instruments. I really like them but I couldn't figure out a good way to get some home.
Adama and I had a nice chat about how he was originally from Bobo, but worked in Ouaga, and is trying to build a center of some sort back in Ouagadougou. Then I bought his cd and Bert and I moved on.
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