Farafina – World Music Central

Badenya les Freres Coulibaly - Photo by Atelier Images. A row of jembe drummers.

Articles

The Jembe: West Africa’s Famed Goblet Drum

Angel Romero May 29, 2026 No Comments Adama Dramé Amazones: The Women Master Drummers of Guinea Babara Bangoura Badenya Les Frères Coulibaly Ballet Djoliba Ballet National du Burkina Ballet National du Mali Bolokada Conde Burkinan music Désiré Ouattara djembe Djiguiya drumming Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali Famoudou Konaté Farafina Fodéba Keïta Guinean music jembe Les Ballets Africains Les Percussions de Guinée Malian music Mamady Keïta Mohamed Bangoura Moussa Traore Nansady Keita Nimbaya Papa Ladji Camara Salimata Diabaté Seydou Dao Soungalo Coulibaly West African music world fusion world music

(headline image: Badenya les Freres Coulibaly – Photo by Atelier images) The jembe is a rope-tuned, skin-headed goblet drum associated above all with Mandé cultural…

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Thunderous and Passionate Farafina

Tom Orr August 13, 2017 No Comments African music Farafina world music

Farafina – Bolomakote (Intuition, 1992) The raw, percussion-driven but still melodic sounds of Farafina burst forth on this 1992 release. Layers of drumming provide a…

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Artist Profiles

Artist Profiles: Farafina

Angel Romero February 4, 2017 No Comments Burkina Faso Burkinabe music drumming Farafina

Farafina was founded in the early eighties in Burkina Faso. Right from the beginning they were enthusiastically welcomed by their audiences who were fascinated by…

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