Balimaya

In the Mande language, balimaya means ‘kinship’ or fraternity, and that's the approach that this Afro-jazzy quintet promotes in the structure of its tunes. They shun extended solo work-outs, preferring to explore a more malleable sequence of relationships, where instrumental prominences frequently happen simultaneously, overlapping, rising and dipping in various combinations.

Julien André is the composer and arranger, as well as playing drums and percussion. There's also Ibrahima Diabaté (percussion, ngoni), Boris Blanchet (saxophones), Vincent Limouzin (vibraphone, marimba) and Felipe Cabrera (bass). The band began in Bamako, back in 1994 with André and Diabaté, and then it expanded its membership in Paris. The tunes are invariably bright and extroverted, with ‘Kayira 2’ featuring a marimba solo with a pinpricking bassline, making a sharp increase in speed as the saxophone and vibes work together, combining the writhing and the dreamy. Ngoni opens ‘Lamban’, then the other players gradually join in this prime Mande-jazz fusion, which is followed by the slower and slinkier ‘Maé’. Bass and djembé also knit together well, notably on ‘Artefact’, and ‘Kayira 1’ shows how this tune sounds with just the original André/Diabaté duo of ngoni and djembé.