Adam Klein CD Release Show for his Malian ‘Mande’ music album, Dugu Wolo

What:
Athens’ based country folk and Americana singer/songwriter Adam Klein will hold a CD release event for Dugu Wolo, his first world music record, at Avid Bookshop on Thursday, February 23, 2012. The album, recorded in Bamako, Mali, in early 2010, is a rustic acoustic collection of original Mande music performed in the Bambara language and featuring traditional West African instrumentation. It is released under his Malian name, Lassine Kouyate.

In early 2010, Klein traveled to Mali, West Africa, to record Dugu Wolo, named after the village in which he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in 2002-2004. The twelve songs include nine sung in Bambara, two in English, and one acoustic guitar and ngoni instrumental duet. The Malian instrumentation featured on the album includes kora (harp), ngoni (lute), tama (talking drum), calabash, and njarka (one-string horse hair fiddle). LA-via Athens’ Eikon Productions filmmaker Jason Miller was on hand to film the sessions in the studio, footage from a music festival in the city of Segou with performances by such West African acts as Salif Keita, Baba Maal, and Tinariwen, and Klein’s return visit to his village. The film will shed light on Mali’s vibrant music scene, Malian culture and lifestyle, the lives of some of Klein’s close Malian friends, and relevant local issues in sustainable development.

The free event will feature a reading of some of Klein’s writings from Mali, a screening of Dugu Wolo’s associated making-of-the-record documentary film trailer, a brief performance, as well as an album listening reception with Malian food.

A portion of the proceeds of Dugu Wolo’s sales will go to support the work of African Sky, a non-profit community development organization working to confront some of the devastating effects of endemic poverty and inequality in Mali and create enduring friendship between US and Malian communities to transform loves at home and abroad.

Where:
Avid Bookshop, 493 Prince Avenue, Athens, Ga, 706-352-2060

When:
Thursday, February 23, 2012, 7:30 p.m.