Bamako to Brooklyn: DJ Spooky and Yacouba Sissoko

*Please note that we will be livestreaming tonight's event to the BPL Presents Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BPLPresents*

Join Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, master kora player Yacouba Sissoko, and cultural anthropologist Maureen Mahon for an evening immersed in the sounds of the Sahel. The three will discuss traditions of West African desert blues, griot and Hip-Hop. A listening session will introduce audiences to iconic and contemporary Malian albums featured in the library’s new vinyl collection.

The evening is part of Brooklyn Public Library’s partnership with Google Arts & Culture and the expansive Mali Magic digital platform, giving unprecedented access to Malian music, culture and manuscripts online. We will screen videos DJ Spooky made with Google about the libraries of Timbuktu, feature a short music performance, and discuss the importance of the Sahel region, with its impact on everything from hip hop to Afrofuturism.

The conversation will be moderated by Maureen Mahon, Cultural Anthropologist, author, and Professor & Chair of New York University's Department of Music.

About

Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, is a composer, multimedia artist, and writer whose work immerses audiences in a blend of genres, global culture, and environmental and social issues. Miller has collaborated with an array of recording artists, including Metallica, Chuck D, Steve Reich, and Yoko Ono. His 2018 album, DJ Spooky Presents: Phantom Dancehall, debuted at #3 on Billboard Reggae.

His large-scale, multimedia performance pieces include “Rebirth of a Nation,” Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Seoul Counterpoint, written during his 2014 residency at Seoul Institute of the Arts. His multimedia project Sonic Web premiered at San Francisco’s Internet Archive in 2019. He produced Pioneers of African American Cinema, a collection of the earliest films made by African American directors, released in 2015. Miller’s artwork has appeared in the Whitney Biennial, The Venice Biennial for Architecture, the Miami/Art Basel fair, and many other museums and galleries.

His books include the award-winning Rhythm Science, published by MIT Press in 2004; Sound Unbound, an anthology about digital music and media; The Book of Ice, a visual and acoustic portrait of the Antarctic, and; The Imaginary App, on how apps changed the world. His writing has been published by The Village Voice, The Source, and Artforum, and he was the first founding Executive Editor of Origin Magazine.

(* Photo: Janelle Pietrzak)

Yacouba Sissoko is a Djeli. For centuries, Djelis have been the musical storytellers in West Africa, a position that is inherited through a family bloodline. They are the keepers of the factual history and the fictional fables of past rulers, nobles, social groups and families. Highly respected within their communities, Djelis hold the responsibility for keeping stories of the past alive and applicable to contemporary audiences. The kora is the instrument traditionally used to accompany their songs.

Yacouba was born to a well-known Djeli family in Kita, one of the two geographic strongholds for Djeli clans in Mali. His mother, Oumou Tounkara, was a celebrated singer who starred with the touring Ensemble National du Mali. His maternal grandparents were also prominent musicians. His grandmother, Bintouba Diabate, was a singer, and his grandfather, Samakoun Tounkara, was honored by the President of Mail with a trophy for mastery of the kora.  At the age of 9, Yacouba started learning the kora and the oral traditions associated with it from his grandfather. By 15, he was touring the country sharing the stories that had been passed down through his family for centuries.

Yacouba moved to New York City in 1998. He was immediately in high demand as a soloist, guest artist, and collaborator. He performed, toured, and recorded with well-known African artists such as Baaba Maal. He also co-founded Super Mande, Tamalalou and Fula Flute.

However, Yacouba did not limit himself to African music and began to transcend musical boundaries and was soon playing with jazz, pop, R&B, and classical musicians. Since then, he has recorded and performed with a variety of artists including Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, and Leroy Jenkins. In 2007, he performed “Melody for Peace” by Anthony Paul De Ritis with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. In 2010, he was featured in a documentary film by the African Channel as part of their “Live from Red Kiva” broadcast. He has recorded tracks on over 15 CDs with artists ranging from Regina Carter to Rahim Alhaj.

Maureen Mahon is a cultural anthropologist whose research interests include African American music and culture; the construction and performance of race and gender in music; and the relationship between race, class, generation, and culture. She teaches courses on the history of rock and roll, music and the construction of race, fieldwork methods, and African American women and music. She is the author of Black Diamond Queens: African American Women and Rock and Roll (Duke University Press, 2020), an exploration of the pivotal part African American women have played in the development of rock and roll.  Her first book, Right to Rock: The Black Rock Coalition and the Cultural Politics of Race (Duke University Press, 2004), is an ethnographic study that examines the ways African American rock musicians used music and activism to challenge the limitations placed on black music and black identity in the 1980s and 1990s. 

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We are very excited to have you back at our events and would like to remind you that we are still in the midst of the pandemic. Please be considerate of your fellow guests and stay home if you’re feeling unwell. Also, consider wearing a mask when attending indoor BPL Presents events. You’ll be doing your part to help keep yourself and everyone healthy and safe.