Sayon Camara & Landaya

For more than a decade, Sayon Camara and Landaya have brought the traditional music of West Africa to audiences throughout New England.

Over the years, this hard-working group performed at hundreds of concerts and festivals, and presented drumming workshops to countless students at schools throughout the Northeast US. During this time, I made yearly sojourns to West Africa to immerse myself in the music, with the goal of sharing the music and culture in an inspiring and educational format — while generating needed financial support for my teachers in Guinea. What started as a performance troupe grew into a family of musicians that spanned two continents.

These are a few of the recordings from 2008 that feature my own arrangements of traditional Mandinka rhythms and songs, performed on the Fula flute, djembe and dunun drums, balafon, and more. They represented years of studies and travels. Almost a decade later, I’m proud to share these with you.