Not long ago, world music was about "drumming from Senegal" or a "Flamenco guitar festival" or "Gamelan music of Bali"– musical styles that we believed should be preserved and left distinct. But today there's an incredible cross-pollination of different musical traditions and artists from around the world. We founded Jumbie Records to reflect this evolution in world music.
In our recordings and ensembles, you can hear Hungarian folk music mingle with the balafon from Guinea in a band of musicians from all over the world. Other artists are combining West African talking drums with Appalachian fiddling and jazz. And a master drummer from Ghana is composing new forms of concert music for his native African xylophone, the gyil.
Our commitment at Jumbie Records is to innovators who are extending and evolving world traditions, and combining them in meaningful new ways.
We nurture this music by producing CD's, representing our artists to presenting venues, and by working to build new musical audiences via publications and online communities.
We are also giving back to the traditions that we are indebted to. This includes sponsoring the Feilmuo xylophone festival in northwest Ghana, and raising money to preserve the Sossa-Bala-an 800-year old instrument that is a national treasure in Guinea. By raising money here, we hope to educate people about these cultural treasures and offer musicians some financial support.
yours,
David Rogers, Raul Rothblatt, Mark Stone, Terry Herald, and Bernard Woma
