The Forestdance Trio cut through Morristown’s gloomy clouds with sunny rhythms from West Africa on Tuesday, at the free Music Beyond Borders series:
Video: The Forestdance Trio in Morristown:
Malang Jobarteh, a native of Gambia, played the kora, a 21-stringed African harp. Famoro Dioubate of Guinea played the balaphon, an African xylophone made from calabash gourds. Kevin Nathaniel, a Detroit native educated at Yale, drummed on a mbira, constructed of calabash, wood and metal keys.
Based in New York, the trio and has been performing for about a decade, Nathaniel said. Jobarteh said he composed the song in the video as a gift for a West African family.
Morristown’s lunchtime series, now in its 10th summer, is presented by the Mayo Performing Arts Center and Morris Arts. It concludes on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019, with Mariachi Citlalli: A Taste of Mexico.
Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin. Click/hover on images for captions: