Da yillena CD
Da yillena (Wood That Sings)
Kakraba Lobi with Valerie Dee Naranjo and Barry Olsen
The third CD
The Lobi Nation of Ghana and Burkina Faso and are expert at making wood to sing. The art of playing the gyil is one of West Africa’s guarded treasures, loved for centuries as a virtuoso art with tremendous healing powers.
This, the trio’s 3rd CD, is a special edition of Kakraba’s personal favorites, never before recorded.
Da Yillena “The Wood is Singing” – (trio with kuar) Kakraba wrote this peice before a concert last year (2001), saying “We should record this one today.
Naamwin Numa “God Likes You” (K kokolele V voice, additional vocals by Rene Cologne) a lulabye to comfort a lost child
Pire (K gyil) – a prelude style used to call the attention of the ancestors
Darkpe (K gyil) a funeral song for a man of leadership age
Bawa (trio 2 gyils and kuar-gourd drum) a favorite dance style in Ghana’s Upper-west
Kpan Kpan Kpulo (K) – the kakarama is played by bachelors to lull themselves to sleep
Barri (trio with kuar) – this style is played during the cold months of the year on special gyils
Menene “What Can I do?” (K) – kokolele is traditionally played by children on the farm
Meng Meng Mengele (K-kakarama) a Lobi game song
The Sourcerer’s Song – in the old days, this kind of song would bring the magic forward
Bewildered Child (K-kokolele V-marimba) talks of the pity of a homeless child
Po Kobo (K) – an old funeral song
Lobi Rock (trio 2 gyils and ganga-barrel drum) – one of Kakraba’s original pieces
Available through on-line and regular retailers.
The following selections from this recording are provided here as MP3 files.
Da Yillena
Menene