ThoughtGallery.org > In the Beginning: Early Music of Western Africa

In the Beginning: Early Music of Western Africa

Ensemble Longbor Mor
Dawn Padmore, Soprano
Yacouba Sissoko, Kora
Olusegun Ajayi, percussion
Kevin Nathaniel Hylton, mbira & percussion
Adedeji Ayansola, talking drum

Is “Early Music” only about Europe?

Thriving for centuries before and surviving four centuries after, persisting in a hostile foreign land long after the first ship bearing human cargo arrived in 1619, the chants and dances of Western Africa pre-date by centuries any music that we currently refer to as “early.”

Come hear some of the oldest music known to us today – music that survived a harrowing ocean journey, flickering in the shadows of the Land of the Free, pulsing with enduring power through the amplified soundscape of modern American popular song.

Acclaimed Liberian soprano Dawn Padmore and kora master Yacouba Sissoko join Afro Roots Artistic Director, percussion virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Nathaniel and others in a thrilling performance of traditional Western African music from lands now known to us as Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

​Our New York season opens with music from the beginning. Don’t miss this very special evening, co-presented by our friends at Afro Roots Tuesdays.

$20 and up

At the Bernie Wohl Center, 647 Columbus Avenue











When: Tue., Nov. 12, 2019 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Ensemble Longbor Mor
Dawn Padmore, Soprano
Yacouba Sissoko, Kora
Olusegun Ajayi, percussion
Kevin Nathaniel Hylton, mbira & percussion
Adedeji Ayansola, talking drum

Is “Early Music” only about Europe?

Thriving for centuries before and surviving four centuries after, persisting in a hostile foreign land long after the first ship bearing human cargo arrived in 1619, the chants and dances of Western Africa pre-date by centuries any music that we currently refer to as “early.”

Come hear some of the oldest music known to us today – music that survived a harrowing ocean journey, flickering in the shadows of the Land of the Free, pulsing with enduring power through the amplified soundscape of modern American popular song.

Acclaimed Liberian soprano Dawn Padmore and kora master Yacouba Sissoko join Afro Roots Artistic Director, percussion virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Nathaniel and others in a thrilling performance of traditional Western African music from lands now known to us as Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

​Our New York season opens with music from the beginning. Don’t miss this very special evening, co-presented by our friends at Afro Roots Tuesdays.

$20 and up

At the Bernie Wohl Center, 647 Columbus Avenue

Buy tickets/get more info now