Raaga Trio plays a subtle blend of jazz and traditional West-African music. The group was created in 2007 following a meeting of three musicians all from different backgrounds whilst rehearsing on another project. They started creating music together, each drawing on their own style and searching for new ways of creating compositions in a completely organic way - they never talk about what they are going to play - they just play. Further details and tour dates in full article.
The word "Raaga" meaning "market" comes from the local Morée dialect from Burkina Faso which fittingly describes the way these musicians create their music - like exchanges in a West African Market!
Bamakosmos XVII - Raaga Trio from Toni Polo on Vimeo.
The music pulls you into deep currents of Manding feeling, experimental and jazzy sounds which sweep you away. The magnificent ngoni and bass ngoni of Andra Kouyaté (Mali) who is pushing boundaries by deliberately trying to lose himself in music in search of new ways to play differently each time; the excellent rhythms of the percussionist Baba Konaté (Burkina Faso) with a rhythmic vocabulary taken from all his musical experiences of working with bands around the world; the harmonious, electric tones of Andreas Fulgosi's (Italy) superb guitar work come together in naturally created melodies through harmonies influenced by western classical and modern music and resulting in an original sound balance between traditional music and rock, deeply enriched by the West African music culture.
In 2009 Raaga Trio became a quartet when they were joined by a fourth member following a jam session. The powerful dubs of Guillaume Lagger (Switzerland) on harmonica bind everything together through the original sounds created by electronic guitar effects, giving more power and adding an extra dimension to the music.
Their debut album 'The Other Edge' is released on 20 September. It has been recorded and mixed by Renaud Millet-Lacombe at Studio de la Fonderie & Hush Sound Studio in Switzerland and mastered by at Philippe Teissier du CrosStudio BoxSon, Paris.
Released digitally via CD Baby and available direct from the Raaga Trio website.
This music is an invitation to embark on a journey through sound, and a chance to experience its positivism, its humanity and its generosity.
Listen without moderation...
The Other Edge Tour - Sept / Oct 2010
EUROPE
19/09 Perce Oreille | Reignier | FR
23/09 Chateaux Carton | Geneva | CH
24/09 Club One Year Only | Lausanne | CH
25/09 La Ferme Asile | Sion | CH
26/09 La Ferme de la Chappele | Grand-Lancy | CH
01/10 Onda Jazz | Lisbon | PT
02/10 Onda Jazz | Lisbon | PT
USA (with support from the Italian Consulate in Philadelphia)
04/10 Grey's Lounge | Philadelphia PA | USA
05/10 Trumpets Jazz Club | Montclair NJ | USA
06/10 African American Mus. | Philadelphia PA | USA
Europe
08/10 Fábrica Braço de Prata | Lisbon | PT
09/10 AMR Geneva | Geneva | CH
10/10 't Gildenhuis | Rupelmonde | BE
14/10 La Bodega | Thonon les Bains | FR
15/10 Maison des Arts | Thonon les Bains | FR
16/10 Jazzclub Erfurt | Erfurt | DE
17/10 Alchemia Club | Krakow | PL
18/10 Tygmont Jazz Club | Warsaw | PL
19/10 La Cova de les Cultures | Barcelona | ES
20/10 Sala Clamores | Madrid | ES
22/10 Baleares | ES
23/10 The Blue Tomato Jazz Club | Altea | ES
24/10 La Cova de les Cultures | Barcelona | ES
