Djelidon / Djelifoli / Sanja / Lamba

WAP-pages / Paul Nas / last edited on 12-08-2012 Djelidon, Djelifoli, Lamba or Sanja (the last one means Happy New Year in the Bambara language) are all desingnations for dance wit Malian origin, that was traditionally performed by the djeli, the griot (don is dance). .It was accompanied by the balafon or kora. Nowadays more drums are used and also played by the djembe ensemble. There are several interpretations where differences show in the feal of the placing of the beat. It seems that the are shifted a half count with respect to each other. I here call one variant Sanja from Mali and the other Lamba from Guinea. In Mali normally is played with only two douns. In Guinea sometimes a third (doun) pattern is added for kenkeni or another instrument. Malian rhythms often start slowly (with a song) and speed up to accompany the dance. In the slow part there is time for microtiming; to pull some of the pulses together (Read more about microtiming on the Djembmande website.). The solophrases are short and with an accent op de 7th puls, within the second measure (in the Lamba-variant that is).

Doundoun variation 2

x x x

x x

x x

x x

x x

x x x

x x x

x x x x

Extra pattern (for ex.kenkeni)

x x

x x

x x

x x

Traditional djemb-accompagniement (with microtiming) Djemb 1 T TS r Djembe solo 1 SS phrase 1 r l BSS l r l SSTTSS r l r l r l lr SS l r T TS r lr SS l r

Sanja
Sources:lessons from Drissa Kon and Serge Blancs book: Call S f T r T r T r T r TTSS r l r l with microtiming: frase 2

TS ST TS ST TS ST TS S T

Sangban

x x

x x

x x

x x

rl

r l rl

r l rl

r l rl

r l

Lamba
Doundoun x two variations: Doundoun variation 1 x x x x x x x x x kenkeni sangban doundoun x x x x x x x x x Lessons frim Ponda O Bryan: Call TTSTTSTTS r l r l r l r l r

Kenkeni

x x

x x

Sangban

x x

x x

x x

x Y

There are many interpretations of the rhythm and its songs. Two essential differences show below. As Stephan Rigert puts it well: Sandia is a good example to widen the borders of our metrical musical understanding. Beside the version he descrobes in his book, many would notate in a way that his 4+ (halfway between 4 and 1) would be the 1 (as a starting point for call, main accent and dance). Try and feel the beat according to the beat Sanja as well as beat Lamba. sangban TTSTTSTTS S SS T T T SS T TTSS SS

Doundoun x

x x

x x x x

doundoun call 1 call 2 Djembe acc 1 Djembe acc.2

Solo 2: In example de solo starts on the 4th count. Solo 1 phrase 1 S f S f TT r l S f

TTS

TTS

BSSTTSS 4 4 1 1 2 2

BSSTTSS 3 3 4 4

Beat Sanja Beat Lamba

TTSSSSSS phrase 2 r l r l r l r l

S f

TT phrase 3 r l

TT l r

TT r l

S f

Sources: Lessons from Ponda OBryan, Mamady Delmundo Keta, Drissa Kon, and Kaloga Traore.Written material from Famoudou Konate, Ponda OBryan, Paul Janse, Serge Blanc. Stephan Rigert, Rafael Kronberger, and Larry Morris..

SS r l

SS l r

SS r l

S f

T phrase 4 f

SST r l f

SST r l f

S f

SSSSSS phrase 5 2 r l r l r

S r

S f Djelidon / Sanja / Lamba/ WAP-pages / Paul Nas