Indiana

The trip to Indiana was over the top. 21:30 departure from NYC, all night drive* and a 10:30 arrival to Indianapolis with a sheep head soup breakfast and then an immediate solo departure to Bloomington to check out the Archive. (In the end Famoro and Missia decided not to come because, with a performance coming up later that day, they put higher priority on catching a few zs. But it probably worked out for the better that way. It turns out that the Archive makes digital copies for research purposes. I’ve put in a request with the librarian and the archivist and they’ll contact me in a week or so to organize the shipping to New York of a CD with the Dioubaté brothers recordings. So, in the comfort of the apartment and as many times as we choose, we’ll have the means to appreciate Mamaya [and whatever other treasures we find on the CD] together.)

(By the way, something has been clarified to me: Sidi Djeli Dioubaté, the creator of Mamaya, was not Missia’s father but rather, her grandfather. It was his three sons that play in the Alberts [and subsequent Rouget] recordings, and the eldest, Sidi Mamadi Dioubaté, was Missia’s father.)

*During our trip we listened to only Guinean music--often at full volume and at least 10 times over to Missia’s and Abou’s new CDs. And man, was it interesting to hear (in English, French, and whatever Maninka I could make out) Famoro, Missia, and Baw discussing, singing along to, highlighting certain parts of, tracing new melodic combinations for, and arguing about the history of the tracks.



I returned from Bloomington with just minutes to spare to jump in the shower, get dressed and head over to the first part of the wedding celebration (of which, a video was just posted.) Tonight is the ceremony and reception. Missia and Famoro will perform again, this time with a DJ backing them. I’m pretty sure that once again I’ll end up being the money collector and sorter, but we’ll see. Maybe I’ll be too busy shaking it up. :)