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Throw Down Your Heart, Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3: Africa Sessions
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| Throw Down Your Heart, Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3: Africa Sessions |
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| Manufacturer: Rounder / Umgd |
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| List Price: $18.98 |
| Sale Price: $14.99 |
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Product Description |
| Throw Down Your Heart chronicles banjo virtuoso and 18 time Grammy award winner Béla Fleck's musical journey to Africa to explore the little known African roots of the banjo. Bela's boundary-breaking musical adventure takes him to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, and provides a glimpse of the beauty and complexity of African music. Using his banjo, Béla transcends barriers of language and culture, finding common ground and forging connections with musicians from very different backgrounds. |
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 Bela Fleck jams with musicians across Africa |
| Review Date: March 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Scott Williams, Oakland, CA United States |
Overview:
Bela Fleck took his banjo and traveled across Africa including visits to Uganda, Mali, Tanzania, and South Africa. At each location Bela jammed and recorded with the local stars, including kora master Toumani Diabate, guitarist D'Gary, vocalists Oumani Sangare and Baba Maal, ngoni player Baekou Kouyate, djembe player Madou Sanogo. This brief list of African stars only scratches the surface of what probably amounts to about 100 different African musicians that play on the various tracks on this album. Each track features a different group of musicians and is recorded in a different locale. The end result is a magnificent fusion of the banjo and traditional African music. There is just an enormous amount of material here with a total of 18 tracks. With so much diversity of material you are likely to find a track two that disagree with your tastes, but overall its hard to imagine any fans of Bela Fleck and/or traditional African music not loving this CD. My only criticism is it is too bad that legendary kora master Toumani Diabate only plays on one track. However, the two are currently touring the together, so if your lucky and they come to your town, you can see more of their amazing chemistry in concert.
Song Highlights:
D'Gary Jam - this is track features an all-star cast included Toumani Diabate and his Malian band, D'Gary on guiar, plus great vocals.
Throw Down Your Heart - Written by Bela Fleck on his way to Africa during a layover in Amsterdam, this is the best song writing on the CD. A great new Bela Fleck tune played with a small group of musicians from Mali.
Ah Ndiya - This track is highlighted by the gorgeous vocals of Oumani Sangare. Pretty and moving.
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another brilliant offering from Bela Fleck
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| Review Date: March 30, 2009 |
| Reviewer: William L. Nienaber, Cincinnati, OH, USA |
| Whenever I see a new Bela Fleck album is being released, I order it immediately. Bela is one of maybe 3 artists whose work I can always count on loving at first hearing, no matter what style of music it is. (And Bela has always been an eclectic and adventurous musician, exploring a wide range of musical genres.) This album is certainly no exception. The music contained on this CD is among the most soulful and hypnotic I've ever heard, and does an excellent job of illustrating the journey Bela undertook, to explore the African roots of the banjo. Also, I literally wept when I read the liner note explaining the album's title... then I wept again when I explained it to my wife! I am a huge fan of all Bela's diverse body of work, but the acoustic planet series is especially satisfying. Now I can't wait to see the documentary! |
A Cultural Handshake
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| Review Date: March 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: S. Finefrock, Raleigh, NC |
| On THROW DOWN YOUR HEART, banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck travels to Africa to trace the origins of his main instrument and play with local musicians. In doing this, he has created a beautiful album affirms his role in the banjo continuum and highlights some wonderful performances by his African host musicians. This album is a five star tour of the wonders of African music that uncovers one stunning performance after another. Working in several countries and with different musicians on each track, the album is packed start to finish with strong performances that will keep the adventurous music fan coming back again and again to enjoy. Also be aware that a film version of Fleck's journey will soon be released. |
Bela has done it again
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| Review Date: March 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Thomas L. Bice, Rio Rancho, NM |
| What a great CD this is. The music is fantastic. I was already a fan of several of the musicians, and Oumou is one of the greats, but in reading the liner notes by Bela you can't help but feel the emotion that went into this project. If you are a fan of music you just can't go wrong with this one. |
Amazingly wonderful
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| Review Date: October 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: anonymous, Lawrence, KS United States |
This is one of the most complex and beautiful CD's I've ever heard in any genre. I've listened to it over and over since getting it. Other reviews have praised the stars on the album, but what amazed me were the folks no-one's ever heard of and wouldn't have if it weren't for this CD -- the lunch ladies on the first track, the amazing folks from villages in Uganda with xylophones so huge they have to be placed into holes in the ground, etc. I'm a big fan of African music but had never heard music from Uganda and Tanzania -- someone needs to make CD's of their (semi-)traditional music available, that's for sure. The complexities of the rhythms are amazing -- sudden shifts, counterrhythms --- you can't help wondering: how do they do this? On many tracks there aren't even standard percussion instruments (or they're barely there) and the complexity is carried by voices and stringed instruments. And the sheer joy of so many of the performers! The only track I don't like is the D'Gary Jam (sorry all you D'Gary fans). The other tracks are purely wonderful.
This CD deserves 10 stars, not 5, absolutely. |
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