Twenty-four Studies in African Rhythms: Volume I

All 12 Studies in the first volume could be performed together as an item in a concert (about 25 minutes, total). Study I, Okoye, fuses a commonality I found in some Edo (Nigeria) and Baganda (Uganda) polyrhythms. Study II, Edo, is an old Bini (Nigeria) folk melody sandwiched by two layers of balafon (wooden xylophone) ostinato pattern for an ancient Wollof (Senegal) royal dance. Study III, Udje, is based on an Urhobo (Nigeria) dance with the same name; actually, the dance sketches for a later composition, Ayevwiomo (Birth) for flute & piano. Study IV, Tunis, is based on an old tune I fell in love with among the Tuaregs in Tunisia and Burkina Faso, but which I later notated when I heard it again in northern Ghana by a Dagomba gonje (1-string fiddle) player. Study V, Jali, was fashioned from my years hanging out with kora playing griot friends from West Africa and kraar-playing friends from the Abyssinian subregion of northeastern Africa. It's from my first sketch for a later composition, the 3rd movement of Five Sketches for Flute, Violin and Piano. Study VI, Iroro, draws from the 'trance-like' dances of the "River-goddess" cults I observed across the West African coast; it's from the first sketches for a later composition, with the same title, for flute and piano. Study VII, Herero Wedding Dance, is a cross between my travels in Namibia and Ethiopia. Among the Herero and Tigre peoples the day after the first nuptial night is particularly significant. The 'events' of that 'first night' often call for communal dance and more celebration! Studies VIII, IX and XI echo Study III, Ayevwiomo.Their mastery will sensitize the pianist to appreciating a wide variety of African dance music. Study 10, Barka, brings us back to Arabia and Foula regions of Africa. It's extracted from my Five Sketches for Flute, Violin and Piano. Study 12, Agbadza, draws from the royal and funeral dances of Ghana and Dahomey regions of West Africa.