Fula Brothers are a burst of unbridled creative musicianship and happy-making. This is a high spirited cross-cultural meeting of veteran performers from West Africa and America. Together, they weave West African hunters harp, fingerstyle guitar, drums, vocals, and a bounty of improvisation into an ecstatic groove-based dialogue which the heart - and the feet - cannot resist.
Master kamale ngoni player Mamadou Sidibe is a storied and award-winning West African musician, and a contagious joy. Thirty years ago in Mali, he was the first to break with tradition and take the ancient hunters harp outside the hunters' ceremonies, creating the now widely popular kamale ngoni. He frequently collaborates with West African superstar Oumou Sangare, with whom he recently wrote and recorded the internationally acclaimed CD “Timbuktu”. Mamadou has performed throughout Europe and the US with Malian stars like Coumba Sidibe and Toumani Diabate, and has recorded with American producer Rick Rubin.
Guitarist Walter Strauss' playing is held in high regard in varied corners of the musical world. The great Malian kora player Toumani Diabate calls Walter’s guitar renditions of kora music “inspirational”. British guitar icon Martin Simpson says his playing is “beautiful, fluid, and sophisticated”. His guitar is a rich blend of texture and syncopation, influenced by diverse global stringed instruments, both contemporary and ancient. Walter has collaborated in the US with Grammy-winning Malian kora player Mamadou Diabate, in Havana with violinist Tanmy Lopez Moreno and in Scotland with Old Blind Dogs fiddler Jonny Hardie.
Fula Brothers are elevated by the nimble grooves of ace drummer / percussionist Brian Rice - a veteran of multiple styles, known especially for his work in Brazilian and Cuban music. He has been percussionist for numerous touring Brazilian artists, soloist for Felipe Senna’s concerto for pandeiro and orchestra, and percussionist for the Bay Area’s own Wake the Dead. Brian has performed internationally, and at US venues like Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts.
