Interestingly, just as Steve Pile comes back from Gambia, where he heard the Combination remixes blasting daily on the radio (“Almost everyday they’d play 2 tracks after BBC news cast”), we received a very interesting new remix of the song by a certain Dabö, which we obviously can’t add to the existing release, so we all agreed we should just give it out for free. So here it is:

And of course you can still check out the existing remixes:

A nice update from our good friend Steve Pile, the musician who made Jali’s album come to life. Steve is headed back to Konteh Kunda music school in Brikama, Gambia. He is bringing some gear with him to setup a functional recording studio there. Please read through to get the full scoop – especially if you have some old gear sitting around!! The story goes something like this: a few years ago Steve came to Gambia to learn the kora, an instrument he discovered by chance at a concert in London. He found his way to Dembo Konteh’s music school, and became his son Jali’s first kora student. Steve and Jali quickly bonded around their love for music, and the strong sense of community at the Konteh family compound. Since then Steve has made it his mission to give back to this musical family. First in 2008 by helping them raise enough money to install solar power. Then by recording Jali’s full length debut Konteh Kunda. Now Steve is goingback in March, here are his words about the next stages:

“I am returning in March 2011 with grand schemes. In the family compound, there is a half finished structure, long abandoned due to lack of funding. On my last trip, I suggested to Jali that the space would be a great music school. He agreed. After the success of a fundraiser to bring solar power to Jali’s compound in 2008, I knew we had the community support to turn this space into a proper music school.

The benefits of having a designated music school in the compound are many:

Economic: Tourism makes up 18% of Gambia’s GDP, but it is primarily based on the coast. Resorts are often owned by foreigners as well. This type of “musical tourism” brings people off the beaten path to villages and towns like Brikama, that don’t usually see those tourist dollars. Money is exchanged directly with your hosts and goes straight into the local economy.

Cultural Preservation: the preservation of culture is encouraged by the influx of travelers eager to learn traditional Mandinka music and art forms.

A Better Learning Experience: Though Jali is happy to give up his bed, it is inconvenient for him (he is a new father) and students often opt for staying in a hotel nearby, for their own comfort. Staying on the compound is a very enriching experience and a separate building would be mutually beneficial for both student and teacher.

The purpose of the March 2011 trip is to set the groundwork for the building of the school and film a documentary on Jali Bakary and the Gambian music scene. Joining me will be film-maker Jesse Wippert. Of course, we will be recording as much music as possible while we are there.

We are currently trying to raise money to cover the cost of this trip, including bringing more solar panels to Jali’s household to increase the power of the existing system.

The Studio

We are also asking for donations of another sort: Recording gear. There are only a smattering of recording facilities in Gambia. Part of the future plan of the school is that it will function as a working studio. We’d like to get it started now.

What we’re looking for:

A Digital 8 track multi-Tracker….(Fostex, Roland, Tascam, Zoom, etc. Perhaps someone has one sitting around…Something Easy to use and intuitive)

-transferring wav. files to a CD or DVD with ease would be a plus, as likely they’ll be sending songs this way for mixing and mastering.

OR Alternatively:

An old Mac laptop and Logic. (this way I could teach them how to  use it)

But, a PC laptop and Cubase or anything else would be fine. (I’m sure I can figure it out!)

I am happy to donate my pre-sonus Firebox, but if anyone has something better sitting around…

-Mic cables- any and all

- mics – multi purpose mics, 57s, a condenser of some sort would be great.

- headphones

Please contact Steve or Benjamin if you have anything that fits these descriptions.

Rewiiiiiiind: earlier this year we shared a dozen or so individual studio tracks from the track “Combination”, an interesting combination – pun shamefully intended -  of traditional kora playing with an afrobeat jam session flavor.  Following Jali’s debut album, Konteh Kunda, produced by Bay area musician Steve Pile, we are now proud to release this fine selection of remixes.

TRACKLIST:

01 – COMBINATION (HATNHOODIE REMIX, DE)
Hatnhoodie are best known for running the hatnhoodie.de blog, where they discuss – in German – the latest and greatest in the bubbling tropical scene.

02 – COMBINATION (ARTFX! REMIX, DE)
Berliner Artfx! has been making beats for well over a decade, but only recently did he get into more tropical type sounds. A pungent, fast-paced take on
Combination.

03 – COMBINATION (VOLTERGEIST REMIX, UK)
He’s back, you may remember Voltergeist of Microrave Records from the Ze Bula Remix EP. We just love his dark, dubby reworks of these African sounds. Get ready to sink in…

04 – COMBINATION (SENOR OZ REMIX, USA)
Oz, known to stand behind the decks at his weekly San Francisco party Afrolicious, also contributes to Six Degrees blog Global Noize, and – apparently! – also makes pretty great beats.

If you LOOOOOVE this shtuff, remember you can buy it in iTunes or directly from Jali’s own fancy Bandcamp store. Thanks for reading, next up: long overdue Miss Doctor remix contest results, coming VERY soon we promise!!!!

LONG OVERDUE!!!! We know it, and we are slightly ashamed of it… well not that ashamed really, because good things are well worth waiting for. And we are proud to announce very good things!!

At last, the winners of the Jali Bakary Konteh remix contest are in…

From Fulda / Würzburg Germany, our friends Hat+Hoodie pieced together a massive banger:

From Glasgow, Scotland, we couldn’t help but bring back the dubbed out sound of Voltergeist:

From San Francisco, California, we are excited to feature a deep cut by Señor Oz of Afrolicious:

And last but not least, a newbie on our radar, artfx! from Berlin, Germany:

This EP will come out in September, as soon as we get final cuts and master them… thanks again to all of you who submitted their remix, it was a very tough call!!! And again, congratulations to the winners, we love your choons!!!

THE RULES

1. Download the tracks HERE – 17 tracks (!) at 120 bpm, 213mb zip file.

2. Do what you do! Take the tracks and mash them up in any way you can think of..

3. Upload your remix in our Fairtilizer dropbox and name it Combination (your name Remix) and add “Jali Combination remix contest” in the tags.
Note: You have to register to Fairtilizer to be able to upload a track – it takes 30 seconds, it’s free, and it comes in reaaaal handy.

4. The winner(s) will be selected by Akwaaba Music.

Prize:
Best remix(es) will be released on Akwaaba Music. Check out the last contest we did.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT REMIX: May 1st, 2010.

Buy Jali’s album directly from Akwaaba | in iTunes

Jali’s website
Akwaaba Music Fairtilizer profile
Akwaaba Music website

Jali’s pictured here with Steve Pile, who also took care of Jali’s release party in Northern California. And landed this great piece in the local paper. More about Steve and his music on his website or his myspace page.

The album is out!! Beautiful album created in Brikama with the help of our friend Steve Pile. You can buy the album directly from us (paypal), or from iTunes. You can also get a taste for free: download the song Combination in nearly any format!

A few words about Jali…

Jali Bakary Konteh is a kora player and singer from Brikama, Gambia. He comes from a griot family, which includes some of the world’s most renowned kora musicians. His father is Dembo Konteh, who has toured the world with his kora, and his Grandfather is Alhaji Bai Konteh, the first griot to popularize kora music in America with his album “Kora Melodies from the Gambia,” on Rounder records.

Jali Bakary has not only inherited the talents of his bloodline, but has also incorporated his own style and twist into the music, as the tracks here will show. He has played with many of the Gambia’s finest talent, including Pa Boba and Sanku Jobarteh, as well as with his father on National televesion numerous times.  Konteh Kunda is his first full length album, entirely recorded at the Konteh Kunda music school in Brikama.