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Twenty-four Studies in African Rhythms Volume I
Two year anniversary of a best seller...

PLAY MP3 EXCERPTS! (courtesy of Peter Henderson, piano)

i. Okoye (Edo / Baganda idioms) ii.   Edo (Edo / Mandinka idioms)
iii. Udje (Urhobo / Dagomba idioms) iv. Tunis (Tuareg / Bambera idioms)
v.  Jali (Mandinka / Malinke/Tigre idioms) vi. Iroro (Urhobo / Igbo / Yoruba idioms)
vii. Herero Wedding Dance (Herero / Tigre idioms) viii. Ayevwiomo Dance 1 (Urhobo / Ewe idioms)
ix. Ayevwiomo Dance 2 (Urhobo / Grebo idioms) x. Barka (Burkinabe / Pular idioms)
xi.  Ayevwiomo Dance 3 (Urhobo / Akan idioms) xii. Agbadza (Ewe / Fon idioms)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Product Description
All 12 Studies in the first volume could be performed together as an item in a concert (about 25 minutes, total). Study I, Okoye, fuses a commonality found in some Edo (Nigeria) and Baganda (Uganda) polyrhythm. Study II, Edo, is based on an old Bini (Nigeria) folk melody sandwiched by two layers of balafon (wooden xylophone) ostinato pattern for an ancient Wollof (Senegal) royal dance. Study III, Udje, is based on an Urhobo (Nigeria) dance with the same name; actually, the dance sketches for a later composition, Ayevwiomo (Birth) for flute & piano. Study IV, Tunis, is based on an old tune the composer fell in love with among the Tuaregs in Tunisia and Burkina Faso, but which he later notated when he heard it again in northern Ghana by a Dagomba gonje (1-string fiddle) player. Study V, Jali, was fashioned from years hanging out with his kora playing griot friends from West Africa and kraar-playing friends from the Abyssinian subregion of northeastern Africa. It's from an earlier sketch for a later composition, the 3rd movement of  the Five Sketches for Flute, Violin and Piano. Study VI, Iroro, draws from the trance-like dances of the River-goddess cults the composer observed and researched across the West African coast; it's from the first sketches for a later composition, with the same title, for flute and piano. Study VII, Herero Wedding Dance, is a cross between the composer's travels in Namibia and Ethiopia. Among the Herero and Tigre peoples the day after the first nuptial night is particularly significant. The events of that first night often call for communal dance and more celebration! Studies VIII, IX and XI echo Study III, Ayevwiomo. Their mastery will sensitize the pianist to appreciating a wide variety of African dance music. Study 10, Barka, brings us back to Arabia and Foula regions of Africa. It's extracted from the composer's Five Sketches for Flute, Violin and Piano. Study 12, Agbadza, draws from the royal and funeral dances of Ghana and Dahomey regions of West Africa.

 

These kinetic pieces [Onovwerosuoke's Twenty-four Studies in African Rhythms] easily get under one’s skin and they sound like they are fun to play. - American Record Guide (May/June 2009 issue)
 

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