Jayme Stone & Mansa Sissoko

Africa to Appalachia is one of those recordings that demonstrates — and celebrates — the fact that music from disparate cultures has more aspects in common than "separating" them. But Africa to Appalachia isn't a dry, piously reverent lecture — it's a meeting of open-eared musicians finding common ground and...

By Mark Keresman

October 9, 2008

[
        {
          "name": "GPT - Billboard - Slot Inline - Content - Labeled - No Desktop",
          "component": "16971022",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "15769925",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "16575154",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "GPT - Rectangle 2x - Slot Auto-select - Labeled",
          "component": "15782206",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "16575154",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "GPT - Leaderboard to Tower - Slot Auto-select - Labeled",
          "component": "15782207",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Africa to Appalachia is one of those recordings that demonstrates — and celebrates — the fact that music from disparate cultures has more aspects in common than "separating" them. But Africa to Appalachia isn't a dry, piously reverent lecture — it's a meeting of open-eared musicians finding common ground and having fun with it. Jayme Stone plays the banjo, which has West African origins; Mansa Sissoko is from Mali and plays the kora, a many-stringed guitar variant with a harp-like tone. Much of ATA has a leisurely, back-porch feel. Although most of the songs are of Malian origin, Sissoko's semi- yodeled singing and kora are very prominent, but repeated listens reveal much more. The fiddle of Casey Driessen gives "Ninki Nanka" a languid country feel until the song switches gears into slyly swinging David Grisman newgrass (i.e., a fusion of jazz and bluegrass) territory. "Tree to Tree" finds Malian melodies and bluegrass elements elegantly dancing together, and "Dakar" finds guitar, banjo, and kora engaging in some snazzy, jazz-charged exchanges over percolating percussion. Dazzling in a down-home manner, ATA is recommended for all acoustic-leaning multicultural gatecrashers.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, New Times Broward-Palm Beach has been defined as the free, independent voice of South Florida — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.