Derek Gripper
One Night on Earth: Music from the Strings of Mali

Derek Gripper's album took me by surprise and I am playing it up and down for a week now. It's been a while that I was captivated by a solo guitar album that much.

A few weeks ago I was posting some vintage photos of a unique looking guitar on facebook, asking if someone has any more information about that model. One user came up with the brand name and another was posting a picture of a record cover of Ali Farka Touré, playing that kind of guitar. I've never heard of him before but apparently he is the king of desert blues and the story how he got a guitar from Bulgaria is quite interesting (see the comments on facebook).

I really loved Touré's music. It was something new and something I was surprised I would like. Not that I am narrow minded (maybe I am), but I feel like most music from outside the Western hemisphere gets the label "World-Music" slapped on and then it's either some sort of cheesy relaxation muzack or it's mixed it with jazz and presented as highlight on some music festival.

Labels like Sublime Frequencies and others changed that and now the more raw and authentic stuff gets out too and that's what I am interested in.

Derek Gripper is not raw. He's a virtuoso, a classically trained guitarist from South Africa who arranged the traditional Kora music from Mali for guitar.

The kora which is a 21 string African harp-lute made from a skin covered calabash with a hardwood neck is described by Derek Gripper as “one of the most complex instruments in Africa, an instrument able to perform bass lines and harmonic accompaniment while simultaneously improvising virtuosic melodic lines, creating the impression of a three-piece ensemble on just one instrument.”

He is so good at that, When kora maestro Toumani Diabate heard these recordings he disbelievingly asked his host and producer Lucy Duran to confirm that she had actually seen one person play this music on just one guitar.¹

The moment I hit play on Kaounding Cissoko I was spellbound by the driving bassline, the melodies, the overall dynamics and Gripper softly humming along.

Jarabi (Passion) and "Ma-Ma" FC are two other highlights that I just listened to over and over again and which take away any reservations that I have when I listen to commercial "world music". It's so masterfully played and with so much passion.

So what he did, as he explains in the TEDxTableMountain : Journey's of Excellence 2015 TED Talk is, without him ever being to West-Africa or knowing any Kora players or know the Kora itself, he started to write down the music and find ways to translate it to the guitar, as one would do with classical music. Watching the talk is very insightful and highly recommended.

maybe you don't have to be from a particular place to enjoy — and share — its music.²

While I was digging around, the name Ali Farka Touré showed up again, so the circle was closed.

One Night on Earth: Music from the Strings of Mali was recorded in one take and you can get a sense of im playing live from this concert setup for the record release.

You can download this album for whatever it is worth to you, on bandcamp.

I compiled some of the original songs in a playlist, so you can compare them to Gripper's work if you want or you just enjoy them as they are. I have to admit that I like the guitar version sometimes more. Maybe because it's more familiar, maybe it's because I was introduced to it first. But check it out yourself, it's fascinating. Scores are available as well.

Thanks to Keith Carver aka Asbestos Inc. for recommending this to me.