Yaya Diallo’s classic 1980 instrumental album Nangape of African drumming, balafon and flute music is inspired from experiences during his youth in Mali, West Africa.
Subtle and avant-garde, the sound bridges traditional West African and contemporary Western genres. Suitable in a variety of categories including World Beat and New Age, Nangape is also reviewed in acoustic and jazz magazines.

Yaya Diallo's album Nangape allows for a personal interpretation with inspiration from traditional music. Yaya's third album Dounoukan features West African village music typically performed for ceremonies, rituals and daily activities while Yaya Diallo's Live at Club Soda CD takes the African music structure and blends it with a feeling reminiscent of 1950's rock-n-roll and blues moving rhythmically with saxophone, electric violin, bass and lead guitars, drumset and voice as well as traditional African drums and balafon.

Nangape is remastered for CD in 2002 on Onzou Records. Listen to Yaya Diallo's West African music on New Music Canada, http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?Band_id=7862 .

REVIEWS:

" ... the album is a delightful exploration of the traditional music of Mali in general, and of the use of the balafon in particular."
Mike High, "Speaking Their Piece," Cadence--The American Review of Jazz & Blues. May 1982, p. 35.

" ... Yaya Diallo, who hails from Mali, and whose congas, balafon, tama and dounouba capture West African 4/4 and 6/8 in so lively and listenable a manner it is hard to resist them."
Down Beat, April, 1983.

" ... If you are interested in the African healing arts and the sounds used, this is the CD you should have in your library. NANGAPE is a great expression of Yaya Diallo's cultural heritage."
Lee Prosser, www.jazzreview.com, 2002.

" ... Nangape, a timeless classic in its own right, holds the primitive sounds of drums intermingling with the progressive and soothing sounds of flutes that encapsulate you in a world of inner peace.... tranquil, peaceful and utterly awing ... this album completely blew me away and that's coming from a person that listens to industrial/electronic based metal and glitch-prone digital hardcore!"
Wednesday Elektra, Space Junkies Magazine, www.angelfire.com/music4/space_junkies Vol. 2, 2002.

" ... a gem of West African music highlighting Diallo's skill at dounouba, tama, and conga as well as djembe and balafon."
Scott Allan Stevens, Victory Review: Acoustic Music Review Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 7, July, 2002.

"... thank You so much for kind letter and fantastic brilliant CD!!! Incredibly bright powerful impression! We were glad and proud touch creation of such distinguished artist as Yaya Diallo. It really was invaluable important discovery for us. Much friendly love from Siberia."
Serge Tikhanoff, Radio Penquin, Siberia, Russia, Onzou Records email, July 21, 2002.

"Traditions and proud! With this two words I can describe the music by "YAYA DIALLO." You can feel the spirit of Africa. Nice drumming, percussions and flute. This artist really needs to be heard by many listeners!"
Ljubo, Bulgaria, 2002-09-24. Source: Reviews, www.mymp3network.com/member.asp?id=2549.
"I love your "Nangape" CD so much ... yours is one of the best I've ever heard."
Derek Sivers, President, CD Baby, www.cdbaby.com. Onzou Records email, Sept. 25, 2002.

"The traditional rhythms of Africa are both medicinal and sacred, this is just a fact of life."
Allen L. Johnston, "The Music Specialist," Onzou Records email, Nov. 22, 2002.

"VERY cool! Africa is THE mothercountry of rhythm 'n music!! ..."
Lord Litter, host of Lord Litter's Radio Show, www.LordLitter.de Onzou Records email, Jan. 9, 2003.

"You are VERY welcome!! ... 'specially releases like Yaya Daillo's are a wonderful example of *true-non-fashion-music* .. *just* music!! .. and - well - I just LOVE african sounds!!"
Lord Litter, host of Lord Litter's Radio Show, www.LordLitter.de Onzou Records email, March 25, 2003.

"We have only had a chance to listen through once this morning but already realise what a beautiful album "Nangape" is."
Tim & Terri~B, Stone Premonitions, England, www.Aural-Innovations.com/stonepremonitions/ Onzou Records email, Feb. 10, 2003.

"The Yaya Diallo album is a masterpiece."
Gary Lee, Radio show host, THE OVERFLOW, Radio Caroline, http://www.radio-caroline.nl Onzou Records email, Feb. 23, 2003.

"Nangape features African drumming, balafon and flute. The recording is reflective of the indigenous music of Mali and its healing powers. Nangape was first released in 1980; Onzou Records has reissued the disc. Selections are “Lobi a la Yaya,” “Ivoirien,” “Outeme,” “Wassoulou,” and “Nangape.” “Ivoirien” and “Wassoulou” are my favorite selections, featuring Diallo’s virtuosity on djembe. Nangape provides musical insight and spiritual healing for us all."
Lisa Rogers, “New Percussion Literature and Recordings,” Percussive Notes, February 2003, p. 66.

"I received that CD today! It is wonderful. Thank you so much."
Angela, music fan, Onzou Records email, March 31, 2003.

"I really dig the Yaya CD, good work."
Don Campau, host of No Pigeonholes Radio Show, KKUP, Cupertino,CA, Onzou Records email, April 3, 2003.
"... it is very well produced and sincerely expressed and executed.... this goes down very well with me, good show."
Don Campau, host of No Pigeonholes Radio Show, KKUP, Cupetino, CA, Onzou Records email, April 5, 2003.

"... thanks so much and what a wonderful cd it is. ... your music is fantastic ..."
Lilitu Babalon, host of radio show Journeys, ArtSound FM 92.7, Canberra, ACT, Australia, Onzou Records Email, April 3, 2003.

"... a rich tapestry of colours and moods, generally light and fluid, aided by Diallo's majestic playing."
Dw, Editor of modern-dance, the A-Z Music Review Magazine, Issue 44, p. 4. www.modern-dance.co.uk, April, 2003.

"... It's a very cool disk. I like it a lot."
Michael Koretsky, Assistant Editor, JAZZIZ, Onzou Records telephone message, April 30, 2003.

"... Looking forward to adding another fine cd by one of the best percussionists I've heard to date."
Jef Peace, Director of Services, PeaceWork Music Net, www.peaceworkmusic.net, Onzou Records email, April 30, 2003.

"Intrinsic rhythms and angelic melodies capture your mind and soul. ... Upon listening, a pure example of West African music's medicinal power is fully demonstrated. ... This is a must have for any person looking for a fulfilling audio-spiritual experience."
Kenneth Steele, World Rhythm--Global Music and Culture, May-June '03, Issue #5.

OVERVIEW:

Yaya Diallo’s debut album NANGAPE recorded in Canada brought international attention to his profound heritage of traditional West African healing arts and became the catalyst for several published albums and books. When played for a group of elders assembled by the Ministry of Culture to help preserve the Malian cultural patrimony one of the elder musicians said, “The person who is playing that passage has knowledge in his hands.”

The album brings together the music of two distinct lineages, the flute from the nomadic Peul culture and the balafon played by the sedentary Minianka.
Listened to in its entirety Yaya Diallo's West African rhythmic CD NANGAPE is tantamount to a therapeutic session. Subtle and soothing, this acoustic instrumental album forms a musical experience in five stages.

Listen to Yaya Diallo's NANGAPE on New Music Canada, http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.crfm?Band_id=7862 .
Visit Onzou Records, http://www.onzou.com

Yaya Diallo states:

"My purpose is to bring a different point of view of African drumming to America. To share the rhythms of my grandparents along with the knowledge of my people and our culture with the world. Plant seeds in the soul of people by giving them the basic foundation of drumming and all its healing powers."
Source: Diallo, Yaya. “Killing the Ego,” Sivananda YOGALife, Summer ’99, p.18.

“One does not make music simply to please the ear. The man who makes it should have something to say, to bring to the community. The music should express an activity, distress, a natural or supernatural force, a sentiment, etc.”
Source: Diallo, Yaya. “The Meaning of Music.” At the Threshold of the African Soul. 2nd ed. p. 50. Intercultural Institute of Montreal, 2001. http://www.iim.qc.ca .

"When I have said in workshops that the drum is the psychiatrist of my culture, I have not been joking. I continue to experience in my own life the ancestral wisdom of the healing drum."
Source: Diallo, Yaya. "The Healing Drum Today." The Healing Drum: African Wisdom Teachings. p. 199. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books, 1989.

ARTIST: YAYA DIALLO
Description
DRUMMER - TEACHER - STORYTELLER
HEALER - SINGER OF SONGS

PLAYING THE RHYTHMS OF HIS PEOPLE WITH BRILLIANT MUSICIANSHIP - REACHING OUT TO AUDIENCES OF ALL AGES - OFFERING INSIGHT INTO THE TRADITIONS OF A UNIQUE CULTURE

Born in Fienso, a village in Mali, West Africa. YAYA DIALLO learned to drum, according to traditional methods of teachings, from his grandfather and other elders. He is a master performer on djembe, balafon and talking drum. Returning to Africa often to keep in touch with village culture, he brings with him a wealth of knowledge about the ceremonies and customs of his people and the changes in their lives.
He came to Canada in 1967 and has now played in festivals and concerts throughout North America ... from the Yukon to California to Kentucky to Florida. He has also performed in Europe.

A performance by YAYA DIALLO guarantees delight, awe, and amazement. Not only does he move easily from one instrument to the next, conjuring up an extraordinary range of sounds and rhythms, he tells tales of the tribulations of growing up in a colonial society which leave listeners reeling with laughter. He talks about village ways and sings in one of his three African languages. He wins over audiences to join him in song and dance.

The heritage of teaching and sharing that formed a part of his upbringing makes YAYA'S presence at festivals an added gift. He loves to work with young people; jams with delight with drummers of other cultures; demonstrates the rhythms to be found in rocks and stone; gives workshops on Africn dance.

He has experience with the music of ethnofusion and leads a band called KANZA in Montreal, the city he now calls home. Author of the book THE HEALING DRUM, he reveals himself always as a man of wisdom and vibrant life.

Source: Excerpt from University of Wisconsin Review previously located on the internet at http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/afrst/artists/diallode.htm
ONZOU RECORDS:

"Yaya Diallo's classic 1980 album Nangape recorded in Canada and reissued in 2002 is a milestone exploring the richness and joy inherent in traditional African music. As the transmission of indigenous traditional knowledge and skills within village culture moves to extinction, it is timely that village culture be passed further afield."

Music accompanies every occasion of significance in traditional West African life. Yaya Diallo's album Dounoukan offers rhythms from the village of ceremonies, rituals and daily activities. Dounoukan is now available through Onzou Records, http://www.onzou.com .

Yaya Diallo's CD Live at Club Soda is from a performance in 1989 with his band Kanza in Montreal. This album moves with saxophone, electric violin, bass and lead guitars, drum set and voice as well as the traditional African drums and balafon.

Elder Yaya Diallo, master drummer, musician, composer, dancer, teacher, healer and author of The Healing Drum: African Wisdom Teachings is a native of Mali, West Africa. Onzou Records collaborates with Yaya Diallo in his work to share the music, dance, knowledge and healing arts of his cultural heritage and his goal of creating traditional African healing centers beginning with one in Bamako, Mali to provide a base for the transmission of the culture to future generations.

Stephen Conroy, Producer/Manager
Yaya Diallo’s West African Music
Onzou Records, http://www.onzou.com
Ph: 1-250-383-2403 Email: