Jayme Stone: Africa to Appalachia
Following John’s recent post concerning the upcoming release of Africa To Appalachia, the Los Angeles Times Music Blog conducted an interview with Jayme Stone recently.
The interview was published last Thursday. The primary focus is an exploration of the connections between American banjo/folk music and traditional African folk music.
An aspect of the interview I found particularly interesting is the discussion of how traditional African folk music is beginning to disappear due to the influence of more contemporary music forms.
…everyone wants to play electric guitar or drums and listen to rap. Those who have access to those things get affected by it. Sometimes the pop music that makes it over there is the more commercial, less musical stuff, and a lot of tradition is being lost. I met a 70-year-old elder musician in one village who put his hand on my heart and said, "The work you’re doing is so important, and young people aren’t doing it."
Sounds very similar to sentiments I’ve heard expressed right here in the south-eastern US concerning the current state of bluegrass music in America. Small world…
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Jayme Stone is two-for-two at the Juno Awards, honoring the best of Canadian music each year.
Last night (3/29), he picked up his second award for the Best World Music Album of 2009 for his Africa To Appalachia project with Mansa Sissoko. The CD features Stone on banjo and Sissoko on the kora, a West...
We've written several times about Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone and his musical journey of discovery in West Africa. He traveled to Mali in the Spring of 2007 to research the aspects of the banjo's historical roots as they are maintained in the musical culture of today's Africa, and shared his impressions...
Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone has received a 2009 Juno nomination in the World Music Album of the Year category from the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) for his Africa To Appalachia CD, recorded with African musician Mansa Sissoko.
Stone won a Juno last year for his previous...
Audio from a recent performance on Mountain Stage by Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone and Malian kora player Mansa Sissoko, is now available online. They perform music from their recent CD collaboration, Africa To Appalachia.
The kora is an African harp-like instrument thought to be an early precursor...
Canadian banjo player Jayme Stone shared a series of banjo travelogues with our readers during his recent musical journey through West Africa. Jayme was traveling on a Chalmers Arts Fellowship grant to research the music of African musicians who perform on banjo-like instruments, and will embark soon...
Jayme Stone is a banjo player whose music is hard to categorize. In fact, you might say that it has no boundaries. You could say the same thing about his whereabouts.
With a new CD, The Utmost, due for release in May, Jayme is currently in Mali doing research and field recording for another upcoming...
Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone was among the winners in this past weekend's JUNO Awards ceremonies in Calgary. The awards are given by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) each year to Canadian recording artists and professionals for excellence in pop, jazz, classical, rock, country...
Our beloved five string banjo is getting its props this week from the jazz world, with both the venerable Down Beat magazine and AllAboutJazz.com giving space to prominent banjo jazzers.
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Audio from the most recent edition of Mountain Stage, featuring music from Jerry Douglas and Jayme Stone can be found at NPR.org.
Douglas performs a set of music from his latest CD, Glide, along with his band: Luke Bulla on fiddle, Todd Parks on bass, Chad Melton on drums, and Guthrie Trapp on guitar.
His...
In a previous post, we told of Canadian banjo picker Jayme Stone's journey through West Africa in preparation for an upcoming CD based on African banjo music. He has agreed to send us a series of updates from Africa - a banjo travelogue of sorts. Part 4 follows - with photos.
You can read all of his...
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