Description
The remixes operate as a paradox: somehow, they simultaneously tease out the unifying themes of the acoustic EP while also sharpening the stylistic distinction of each track. This is not the well-rehearsed hip-hop and reggaeton that we’ve heard recycled across the Black Atlantic over the last fifteen years, though that music certainly has its merits. Kafumbe’s harp solos on the opening cut, “Take Charge of My Life,” offer a cross-continental nod to Senegambian and Malian kora music. Likewise, we hear echoes of Senegalese Wolof drumming on the eponymous third track, “Teach Me to Love.” Meanwhile, “Let me Seek You First,” experiments with new clave imaginaries refracted from the Caribbean back to West Africa whence they came. The bass/triangle counterpoint reminiscent of Brazilian samba on the fourth track, “I Ask You to Help Me,” is similarly unmistakable. The interaction of all these stylistic features with cowhide Ugandan traditional harps, drums, and gourd rattles form a powerful crossroads of past and future. Closing with “I am Very Thankful,” Kafumbe and Disu bring the ancestral practices of thanks-offering and praise-singing to the dance floor.
Remixed EP Credits
Composer: Damascus Kafumbe
Remix Producers: Damascus Kafumbe and Emmanuel Disu
Remix Production Engineer: Emmanuel Disu, Disu Republic, Jos, Nigeria
Mastering: Bob Katz, Digital Domain Studio, Orlando, Florida, USA
Liner Notes: Peter Hoesing
Translations: Damascus Kafumbe
Artwork: Emmanuel Disu
Photography: Damascus and Betty Kafumbe; Brett Simison and Clemmons Family Farm
Publisher: Damascus Kafumbe
Special thanks to African Performing Arts Initiative, Inc. (APAI) for supporting this project.
℗© 2019 Damascus Kafumbe. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.
