Results for "West African rhythms"

Agneya Chikte

Agneya Chikte is an award-winning Indo-Canadian percussionist and composer whose debut album AGNEYA (2026) blends South Asian rhythmic cycles with contemporary improvisation, cinematic textures, and global grooves. His music reflects his diasporic identity and belief in rhythm as a shared language, inviting audiences into a sound world that is groove-driven, meditative, and expansive.

Born and raised in Western India, Agneya grew up at the intersection of tradition and modernity. His mornings were steeped in the intricacies of Hindustani music and tabla compositions, while his evenings were soundtracked by early 2000s rock and hip-hop on MTV. This juxtaposition of ancient rhythmic systems and global pop culture became the foundation of his artistic perspective: rhythm not as a fixed category, but as an endlessly flexible, living force.

Benoit LeBlanc

Aly Keїta

Born: June 17, 1969

West African musician Aly Keita earned worldwide renown for his mastery of the balafon, a marimba-like instrument native to the region. The balafon is traditionally the instrument of the griot, or the oral historians and songsmiths of West Africa. Although the tradition lives on, it is not as a griot that Keita became famous. Rather, it was his ability to take this millennium-old instrument into a modern musical context. While rooted in tradition, Keita's Afro-pop, funk-fueled rhythm section and taste for complex jazz-oriented arrangements set him far apart from most balafonists. Aly hails from a famous musical family, the same that produced Salif Keita, one of West Africa's most treasured songwriters and musical talents

Varun Venkit

Born: January 13, 1986

Taal Inc. & Friends is a band featuring some of the country’s finest musicians and that plays traditional West African folk tunes in a contemporary and modern way. This project is an amalgamation of traditional West African folk songs, afro rhythms, percussive melodies, groovy basslines and devastatingly exploratory improv sections. All in all – it is a treat for every kind of listener. Each song tells a story that is new, dynamic, inclusive, dancy and a whole lot of fun.

Felipe Alonso

Guitarist and composer Felipe Alonso, raised in Peru, is much at ease in both electric and acoustic settings. His dedication for the guitar has led him to explore jazz music in the US and flamenco in Spain. Felipe moved to Los Angeles to attend Musicians Institute in Hollywood and the prestigious Thornton School of Music at University of Southern California. His versatility makes him standout as a unique guitarist able to perform different musical traditions with much ease and authority. "A Gathering" celebrates Felipe's musical upbringing as an innovative jazz musician able to preserve South American culture and showcase his improvisational skills on the guitar.

Akiko Horii

Born: November 11, 1981

Born and raised in Kobe, Japanese-French jazz percussionist Akiko Horii was never afraid of bold moves growing up: after leaving her native Japan alone at the age of fifteen to attend high school on Long Island, she made a radical shift from studying classical piano to devoting herself to West African music and dance in college (CalArts), with a particular focus on the djembe and Ewe drumming from Ghana. She later spent several months in Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Mali, learning from masters and performing for local ceremonies. Her deep sense of rhythm and graceful abstractions notably brought her into the spotlight with several performances on Congahead

Where's The Beat? From Ancient Rhythms To Future Grooves For Gizmos, Gadgets And Thingamajigs

August 10, 2017

The classic “world beat bible" by Matthew Montfort is now bringing these ancient rhythms into the grooves of the future with content for digital audio workstations, sequencers, computers, tablets, smartphones, CD players, and other gizmos! Where's the Beat? A. West Africa, Bali, and India, birthplaces of polyrhythm, gamelan, and tala. B. Within every performer, ...