After the annual dankun sacrifice of Brahima Traoré in Samogohiri, masks come from the bush to roam in the village. They are animals, a buffalo, a black monkey, some dagwé (Roan Antelope, Hippotragus Equinus), and an old man. They are each accompanied by a warden, who has the task to “control” and communicate with them….
Today the donsow of Karankasso and neighbouring villages celebrated the big sacrifice to the dankun, which takes place once a year. A goat was killed on our ephemeral altar of leaves and each hunter brought a hen or a cock. The way it dies gives you an indication of how the hunting season will go….
My friend Nicola Scaldaferri, researcher in Ethnomusicology at the University of Milan, visited me here in Burkina from late December to January the 20th. We spent a very intense week in Karankasso, using my contacts to make an idea of the musical richness of the village. We filmed the construction of the baan, the Sambla…
Today, with my friend Nicola Scaldaferri, researcher in Ethnomusicology at the University of Milan, I drove to Banzon to record a performance of donso music by Diakari Traoré and Bakari Ouattara. We set up a room of Bakari’s house in Banzon to record as best we could with two Rode NT55 to Sound Devices 744T. With…
Donso music is usually associated with donson’goni, the six-stringed harp-lute played by the musicians of the brotherhood. Sometimes I saw a few drums being added, but only with a secondary role. The foreground is taken by the bard’s voice, and instrumental music often represents just a background for his praises and epic songs. With surprise I…
After a good bit of uncertainty it seems like the group for fonio harvesting will leave for the fields this morning. Otherwise, says Lasso’s elder brother Mussa, all the grains will fall to the ground with the next rainfall. The morning is cloudy, but it should not rain. They won’t leave early, for the fonio must get…
On September the 9th, 2011 old Fie-Sini Traoré died. He was buried in his courtyard, lots of people were there to dig the grave and hunters shoot their shotguns in the air, to honour the deceased. Here, when an old men dies, his burial is a happy celebration. He lived a long life and left…