Music
Balimaya Project
The complex musical traditions of Senegal, Ghana, and Guinea with a modern London accent
Playing the djembe daily in a pizza restaurant in Abu Dhabi turned out not to offer the musical enrichment that Yahael Camara Onono so craved. In 2019, he moved back to London and started the Balimaya Project instead: a collective that (would) do justice to the rich, centuries-old musical tradition of the Mandé; veterans of the London afro-jazz scene (Kokoroko, Obongjayar), mostly with roots in West Africa. In this line-up, they truly dive into the depths: no frivolous background music, but gripping polyrhythmic journeys, pushing traditional instruments like the kora and the djembe to their absolute limits.
