West
African Music for the Marimba
Soloist
Valerie Dee Naranjo
Performances by
Valerie on 4 1/2 octave marimba of the entire series oftranscriptions
to date.
West African Music
for the Marimba Soloist features marimba transcriptions of Gyil music
of the Lobi people who live in Ghana’s Upper-west region. It
focuses, especially, of the repertoire of Maestro Kakraba Lobi.
This style, metadepent
and two- three- and four-voiced, is an especially suitable African style
for the marimba soloist. The Gyil (pronounced JEE-lee) is one of the grandparents
of the marimba. It is made from wooden bars that are suspended, on a frame,
over calabash gourd resonators.
Gyil pieces, like
jazz tunes, have specific elements that stay consistent, yet each player
is expected to improvise. These transcriptions, suitable to interpret
literally, are also meant as guideposts for improvisations.
At the CD's conclusion
are short excerpts with percussion, provided to suggest performance options.
Available
through on-line and regular retailers.
Audio
Clips: |
The
following selections from this recording are provided here as MP3
files. |
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