Canadian banjo virtuoso, Jayme Stone, made a pilgrimage to Africa to research the banjo's surviving ancestors. The odyssey became a collaboration with Mansa Sissoko, a griot singer and master-player of the kora (a 21 string African harp) culminating in their joint CD Africa to Appalachia. On this album Africa and America come closer together with the banjo being the bridge. The unshackled American banjo has gone back to Africa and returned with many stories left to tell. Stone and Sissoko are joined in this concert by Harrris Eisenstadt (percussion) and “gravity-defying” guitarist Grant Gordy When people ask what kind of music they play as Stone puts it, “Blending genres is like trying to braid water: you quickly find out it’s all one thing anyway.” http://www.jaymestone.com
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