Balimaya Project

Balimaya Project is a large scale London based group that combines authentic West African music of the Mandé people with western jazz in ways that feel very much at home in the context of the city's ever expanding multi-ethnic jazz scene. It is led by percussionist Yahael Camara Onono, who has put together quite an ensemble that uses a large array of instruments that are native to Mandé, including the kora, djembe, and balafon, along with various forms of dunun. Their music has a highly percussive nature, as one would expect, with West African rhythms and harmonies taking the center stage, backed by a sublime brass section. The resulting fusion is quite a rush as a work of Afrobeat and jazz that carries on the traditions of the African diaspora.