Trackliste

1. Mai zanna Dimignan 04:10
2. Tugan 03:55
3. Falatô 05:45
4. Siya 05:16
5. Hommage 04:50
6. Dan kaan 04:27
7. Jigiya 04:37
8. Janfa 04:47

Massa Dembele is a songwriter, griot, percussionist and master of the camel N'Goni, a West African harp. 

Nine years ago, he left Burkina Faso to find an international audience for his music. His journey took him to Ghana, among other places, where he recorded his debut album for the Canadian label Izniz. Today he lives in Hamburg and Konstanz. Massa grew up in the provincial capital of Nouna in western Burkina Faso. He comes from a griot family. ‘The griots have many social and cultural roles; they spread news, tell stories, settle disputes – and they also provide entertainment,’ says Massa. He has been making music from an early age. ‘As a child, I used to organise percussion sessions with my siblings and cousins in the afternoons – we played on tomato cans because we had nothing else.’ His uncle taught him to play the djembe and balafon, and as a teenager he played traditional music at christenings and weddings. Later, he took up the kamele n'goni, the West African ‘harp of youth’ invented in Mali and Burkina Faso in the 1960s. He sings in Bambara or Dioula, as the language is called in Burkina Faso. 

Arrangement: Massa Adama Dembele
Co-arrangement: Kassoum Dembele
Drums, calabash: Achille Nacoulma
Conga: Joannie Labelle
Guitar: Ousmane Koita Fodé
Bass: Bouba Ouattara
Trumpet: Innocent Esiaku Kwamivi
Saxophone: Stéphane Kientega N`manegda
Flute: Faisal Diarra Moussa
Piano/Keyboard: Parido Sanou Mohamed
Piano: Jean-Philippe Rykiel
Balafon: Moussa Diarra, Seydou Diabaté
Kora-Ngoni & Percussion: Massa Adama Dembele
Tama-Arako: Adama de pamayeri Dembele
Chekere-Maracasse: Kassoum Dembele
Choir: Awa Guindo, Fatoumata Dembele, Kassoum Dembele, Fofana Sendia Oportune
Producer: Massa Adama Dembele
Recordings: Kassoum Dembele with Hanou Productions Bobo Dioulasso
Mix: David Briole

Mastering: Gavin Weiss
Coverfoto: Benjamin Arntzen
Layout: Simone Kesting