Badenya brings history to life

For two nights, The Grand in Ellsworth will be filled with the sounds of West Africa.

At 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6-7, Badenya, also Les Freres Coulibaly, will bring their blend of native instruments, such as djembe, balafon, sabar and doumdoum, with more familiar bass, keyboards, guitars and maracas to the downtown auditorium.

Richard Scott of Wired magazine said of them, “The frighteningly gifted multi-instrumentalists Badenya are the tightest African acoustic group I have ever heard. Turning song into drum into speech, they manipulate some of the most complex rhythmic arrangements with a clarity and single-minded directness that is astonishing. This is contemporary music of the highest possible caliber.”

The Coulibaly Brothers come from Burkina Faso, a landlocked West African country near Mali and Niger and south of the Sahara Desert. Since their childhood, the group’s primary members have lived in Bobo Dioulasso, the cultural melting pot of Burkina Faso. They grew up in an important griot, or oral historian, family, and are members of the Bwa ethnic group.

Lassina and Ousseni are twins. With their elder brother Souleymane, they have traveled throughout Africa and Europe over the past 10 years. Each played several instruments, and they pass around solo parts.

Joining them are Ousmane, Kassoum Coulibaly and Abdoulaye Diarra, nephews of the three brothers. The lone female in the group is their niece, Mariam, a singer and dancer.

The lyrics of their songs are about the concerns of their people, their joy and their burden. A frequent topic is contemporary life, and the balance between tradition and modernity.

Their latest album, “Seniwe,” on Trace Records, is their first multitrack recording, with the emphasis on traditional instruments.

In recent years, they have toured with George Clinton, Youssou N’Dour, King Sunny Ade, Johnny Clegg and Salif Keita.

Fellow musician Baaba Maal said of them, “They inherited the tradition. I support them because they understand that in the present time, both roots and open-mindedness are needed. Extremely powerful, the songs of this griot family testify [to] the roots of West African musical culture.”

Tickets are $16 for adults, $8 for children 17 and under, and can be purchased at The Grand box office or by calling 667-9500.