Eve Risser, Red Desert Orchestra – Eurythmia (2022, France/Europe/Burkina Faso)

Continuing our journey through the epic Fedi-sourced catalogue of must-hear albums, our next spotlight is on number 679 on The List, submitted by platenworm. The Red Desert Orchestra is a free jazz group headed by French composer and pianist Eve Risser, its core members originating from various spots in Europe alongside, for this record, three Burkinabe musicians. Composed by Risser but then improvised and arranged by the entire group, the resulting collaborations seamlessly blend and layer jazzy horn and piano sections into West African percussion solos on top of electronic bloops and bleeps and abstract vocals, often with a hypnotic, minimalist tempo. Beautiful.

Want to read more? See the full spotlight on the Fediverse at @1001otheralbums.com or on the blog: https://1001otheralbums.com/2026/02/27/eve-risser-red-desert-orchestra-eurythmia-2022-france-europe-burkina-faso/

Want to skip straight to the music? Here's the Bandcamp: https://cleanfeedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/eurythmia

Happy listening!

#EveRisser #RedDesertOrchestra #FreeJazz #BurkinaFaso #WestAfricanMusic #music #1001OtherAlbums

Eve Risser, Red Desert Orchestra – Eurythmia (2022, France/Europe/Burkina Faso)

Our next spotlight is on number 679 on The List, submitted by platenworm.

The Red Desert Orchestra is a free jazz group headed by French composer and pianist Eve Risser, its core members originating from various spots in Europe alongside, for this record, three Burkinabe musicians: Antonin-Tri Hoang (alto sax, analog synth), Sakina Abdou (tenor sax), Grégoire Tirtiaux (bari sax, qarqabas), Nils Ostendorf (trumpet, analog synth), Matthias Müller (trombone), Tatiana Paris (electric guitar, voice) Ophélia Hié (balafon, bara, voice), Mélissa Hié (balafon, djembe, voice), Fanny Lasfargues (electro-acoustic bass), Oumarou Bambara (djembe, bara), and Emmanuel Scarpa (drums, voice).

The songs are each titled in a language belonging to one of the musicians and integrate a wide variety of elements, as might be expected by reading the list of instruments involved. The effect is rather stunning, seamlessly blending and layering jazzy horn and piano sections into West African percussion solos on top of electronic bloops and bleeps and abstract vocals, often with a hypnotic, minimalist tempo. While all songs are noted as being composed by Risser, she didn’t provide written notation for the musicians so as to prevent posing a barrier for those who didn’t read music. The group instead worked through the pieces together and provided their own improvisations, and each individual musician is given the opportunity to shine at one point or another in the album. The result is that all the musicians are credited for the fantastic collaborative arrangements, and the listener is left wanting more. Beautiful.

• Bandcamp: Eve Risser, Red Desert Orchestra – Eurythmia
• Discogs: Eve Risser, Red Desert Orchestra – Eurythmia

"Explore the Roots & Branches of Country Music" by Ken Burns on PBS

<<Country music wasn’t called that yet, but it was music of the country. It was a combination of the Irish; the recently freed slaves, bringing the banjo into the world; the Spanish effects of the vaqueros down in Texas; the Germans bringing over the “oom-pah” of polka music, all converging. >>

#Music
#country
#blues
#roots
#CountryWestern
#ranchero
#banjo
#WestAfricanMusic
#polka
#zydeco
#BlackFedi
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music/roots-branches-of-country-music/

Self-Titled Summer | Djeli Moussa Diawara (1983, Guinea)

Our next Self-Titled Summer spotlight is on number 387 on The List, submitted by platenworm. This is the gorgeous debut album (also found under the title Yasimika) by the Mandinka griot and kora player, considered a classic West African album by those who know it.

Want to read more? See the full spotlight on the Fediverse at @1001otheralbums.com or on the blog: https://1001otheralbums.com/2025/07/31/self-titled-summer-djeli-moussa-diawara-1983-guinea/

Want to skip straight to the music? Here's the Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/djeli-moussa-diawara (scroll to the bottom to see the 4 tracks from this album)

Happy listening!

#DjeliMoussaDiawara #JaliMusaJawara #griot #kora #balafon #Guinea #Mandinka #Mandingo #AfricanMusic #WestAfricanMusic #1980s #selftitled #music #1001OtherAlbums

Self-Titled Summer | Djeli Moussa Diawara (1983, Guinea)

Our next Self-Titled Summer spotlight should be David Bowie’s s/t (aka Space Oddity), but we’ve already had a Bowie spotlight this year and there’s a lot of s/t’s to get through. So, instead we’re going to jump to the next one, which is number 387 on The List, submitted by platenworm. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Point of origin(s): Born in 1962 into a family of Mandinka[1] griots (aka “djelis”/”jalis” i.e., West African storytellers and/or musicians) in Kankan, Guinea, Djeli Moussa learned to play the balafon (gourd-resonated xylophone), kora (West African stringed instrument similar to a lute and harp), and guitar at an early age. After moving to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire at the age of 18, Djeli Moussa first played in restaurants and with other musicians such as his half-brother Mory Kanté (previously vocalist and balafon player in the Malian Rail Band) and for Moustapha on his 1982 disco/funk album I Love Abidjan. In 1982 he began his solo career by recording this, his debut album, first released the following year by Paris-based label Tangent. The album would later be reissued by various labels, some with the Anglicized spelling “Jali Musa Jawara” and/or other titles (Yasimika, Yasimika [Abidjan 1982], or Direct From West Africa).
• Tasting notes: Griot, kora, balafon, acoustic guitar, beautiful chorus vocals
• Standout track: “Haïdara” but, also, all of them (there’s only 4) – they’re all magic.
• Where are they now?: Djeli Moussa moved to Paris and has continued to release a number of solo albums (the most recent being the 2020 Par Amour) featuring his preferred 32-stringed kora (traditionally it is a 21-string instrument), incorporating various styles such as flamenco and blues with traditional Mandinka sounds. He also founded the Kora Jazz Trio in 2002, which continued on as the Kora Jazz Band after Djeli Moussa left in 2010.
• Websites: Wikipedia, YouTube channel

Happy listening!

• Soundcloud: Djeli Moussa Diawara (scroll to bottom to see the 4 tracks from this album)
• YouTube: Djeli Moussa Diawara – Yasimika
• Discogs: Djeli Moussa Diawara – Djeli Moussa Diawara

#1980s #AfricanMusic #balafon #DjeliMoussaDiawara #griot #Guinea #JaliMusaJawara #kora #Mandingo #Mandinka #music #musicDiscovery #WestAfricanMusic

#WorldMusicWednesday
#NowPlaying #Tootradio #WestAfricanMusic
#BurkinaFaso

Volta Jazz - Djougou Toro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P65hTWA33es

https://boboyeye.bandcamp.com/album/bobo-y-y-belle-epoque-in-upper-volta