Ibra Galissa : kora
Marc Liebeskind : guitar
François Gallix : bass
Stéphane Foucher : drums

Ibra Galissa is maybe the only kora player taking a real new path today in the kora’s world. No doubt about his knowledge of the mandingue tradition, but he had on this skill, afro-Portuguese and Senegalese music (M’balax) with an impressing virtuosity and a jazz phrasing.

Marc Liebeskind has the art of the interbreeding and composition. His guitar is fulfilled of big long stay in India, Africa ans Brazil. The duet find in the another duet in François Gallix and Stephane Foucher a beautiful rhythm section giving a stand for improvisation where strings mix in a jubilant dance.

Guillaume Barraud : Bansuri
Marc Liebeskind : sit-guitar & el. guitar
Prabhu Edouard : tabla

Atman Project rise up following the meeting of the sit-guitar player’s Marc Liebeskind and the bansuri’s player Guillaume Barraud in Paris in October 2009.

This musicians both dedicated the last ten years working on Indian classical music and their respective musicality converge on many aspects. It is, then by mutual friendship and conviction they unificate their talent with the tabla and multi-percussionnist’s virtuoso Prabhu Edouard.

Atman Project realise a perfect symbiosis between India and the West, composition and improvisation, modernity and ethnical. This music melt express itself with a multitude of facets (point of vue): tone’s richness and tone’s fusion, creation of a new instrument called sit-guitar (an accoustic guitar close to a sitar) and improvisation speech melting singsong and deepness of Hindoustany music with jazz esthetic. This trio struggle (dig ) with innovation and make then a true genre revolution. Thru Marc Liebeskind’s compositions, it promotes the Atman, the vital blow, and originator of a magic & universal music.

Marc Liebeskind : sit-guitare
Nabankur Bhattacharya : tabla
Andra Kouyaté : n’goni basse
Amar Toumi : bendir
Christophe Erard : bougarabou

This album is completely dedicated to a new combination of raga guitar with a certain jazzy way (track 3) plus other elements within reach of new influences, although most tracks are played in a rather Indian classical way, (track 7 rather repetitive even) with some side-effects. Also, it is played with a completely unique guitar type, the 16-string ‘sit-guitar’, with several resonance strings attached and other adjustments which took 5 years to complete before the result was perfect for its use. Now the guitar sounds like a suitable alternative to the sitar with a body of guitar, and guitar strings, which makes it suitable to play subtle different guitar styles into the Indian way of playing. The music is performed with additional tabla, and some occasional other instruments like violin, ngoni bass, and bendir & riqq and bougarabou (rhythm instruments). Last track is a real fusing track with the full band (Indian violin/ guitar/ tabla).

Fatou Dembélé : voice
Marc Liebeskind : guitar, sit-guitar
Nana Cissokho : kora
Christophe Erard : bass

“Marc Liebeskind has the art of mixing and meeting people from other culture. Far from partitioning himself into a group of musicians who would have traveled the same path as him or who would practice the same styles, and the same languages, he does not hesitate to jump into the unusual adventure of true miscegenation. “

Ibra Galissa : kora
Marc Liebeskind : guitar, sit-guitar
Christophe Erard : bass

Mojo (review by David Hutcheon)
“It is a dreamy, double-chocolate confection, perfect for watching clouds go by. If it lacks the complete mastery of Toumani Diabate’s New Ancient Strings that’s no real complaint because it is still hypnotic, compelling and luscious, each track packing in enough dynamism, artistry and individual moments to savour.”

Diaspora
“This is the heavy favorite for most beautiful CD of the year, I haven’t heard anything as wonderful since Tunde Jegede’s Lamentation . They clearly have been playing for years. It is the first CD I’ve listened to completely through four times in two days in a long time. It is superb.”

Songlines “Top 10, Top of the World” Review by Nigel Williamson
“Taffetas have come up with something rare these days …   an indescribably beautiful and wholly original sound… totally fresh and unique”
“Concentrated listening reveals hidden depths and all manner of contrapuntal cleverness, chromatic surprises and complex signatures. There’s an unmistakable feeling of constant forward motion, underpinned by the rolling rhythm of the bass, over which the guitar and kora trade irresistible cascades of notes without ever indulging in showboating. Taffetas have come up with something rare these days   even in the adventurous and open-minded genre that is modern world music a sound that is totally fresh and unique.”

African Business
“Mix and match culture: unique Swiss-African blend . Every once in a while a group of musicians from different musical backgrouds come together, bringing with them a whole host of cultural experiences and unique musical talents. Between them they manage to create something fresh and intoxicating.
Taffetas is one such group of musicians, they created something unique that has compulsory listening stamped all over it.”

Rupak Kulkarni : bansuri
Marc Liebeskind : guitar & compositions
Lassana Diabaté : balafon
Leon Duncan : bass
Anindo Chatterjee : tabla
Adama Dramé : djembé
Stefan Rigert : drums, arrangements & production

Christophe Turchi : ténor sax
Christophe Chambet : bass
Christophe Calpini : drums
Marc Liebeskind : guitar
Léo Tardin : piano

Contemporary soul jazz, a tasty collection of funky grooves with outside approaches, and altered sounds.

Marc Liebeskind : guitar & composition
Stefano Saccon : alto saxophone
Carolin Höfler : bass
Norbert Pfammatter : drums

“From Irene Schweitzer to the Sherer brothers, the Helvetian scene is not stingy with good musicians. However, is there a Swiss jazz, a way of playing their own? No doubt no .. In any case, there is not the decisive quality of this quartet of configuration and interpretation quite classic. Namely, a lyrical saxophone derived from the bop, a drumming battery, both lively in raises and able to be more discreet, a double bass main beam of the building, as often, and the guitar leader to harmonic progressions very legible but just as able to break lines or take charge of more clearly rhythmic aspects. The whole on original compositions rather well written, built on melodies easy to hum, ranging from the barely veiled evocation of the great hours of all past jazz to more contemporary digressions, leaving to forget for a few measures the tempo driver. Just jazz, as many hear.

Marc Liebeskind : guitar & composition
Stefano Saccon : alto saxophone
John Silvermann : bass
Marcel Papaux : drums
Recorded by Benoît Corboz
Produced by Marc Liebeskind
Cover photo Cris Bucek

At a time when it becomes more and more difficult not to give in to fads, here is a guitarist whose sound is instantly recognized. It does not sound like a sound: a vibration a little electric matte and round at a time, like a flabby snap. There is his talent. In this way of tracing his own path of music. Marc Liebeskind had already impressed with a first album “Uma Chamade Brasileira”. A second album, “Duvida” has just been released. At the head of a quartet he continues his exploration of almost mysterious music. Joy again, but nymbee in some duvida these doubts which are also happy sparks.

Marc Liebeskind : guitar & composition
Matthieu Michel : flugelhorn
Marc Bertaux : bass
Marcel Papaux : drums

“From a long stay in New York and courses he followed with the masters of contemporary guitar, (John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Bill Frisell) Marc Liebeskind keeps some sensitive marks, but never these obscure a musical personality of great wealth. At the age of 35, the Genevan has achieved impressive instrumental mastery: profound knowledge of harmony, chords, voicings, refusal of daring, sensitive art of accompaniment, perpetual search for the roundness of the note and the purity of sound are the main constant of the guitarist’s game, whose stated ambition is to “play the fairest way to feel each note” and which recognizes Jim Hall among his major influences.
That is to say that the technical demonstration is not the first concern of Liebeskind, refined melodist, inspired improviser, but also composer of a surprising maturity, as we can see while listening to his first CD “Uma Chamada Brasileira “.

Maestre Casco express in his song some typical situations of the common life in North Brasil with humour. Beach, music, friends, travelling. He sings with beautiful percussion player & back vocals.

The name “Coco” (Portuguese for “coconut”) is a common Northeastern Brazilian slang for head, referring to the fact that song lyrics are often improvised. Coco is often performed with a repetitive musical beat and call and response singing reminiscent of Capoeira music. The music is commonly performed at traditional parties in the Northeast, such as weekend street parties and Carnival. Coco is also alternatively known as “embolada” (another slang word, meaning “entangling”, referring to the fast, slurred, machine-gun style of singing).

The characteristic sound of coco arises from four instruments commonly used in its performance: the ganzá, surdo, pandeiro, and triangle. Performers also often wear wooden clogs, the stomping of which adds a fifth percussive element.
In capoeira, music sets the rhythm, the style of play, and the energy of a game. In its most traditional setting, there are three main styles of song that weave together the structure of the capoeira roda. The roda represents the most strict and traditional format for capoeira and is ideally suited for an introduction and discussion of the music.

Stefano Saccon : sax-compos
Julien Feltin : guit
Andy Barron: batterie
Christophe Chambet : basse
Alfio Origlio : Fender Rhodes

Album recorded and mixed by Marc Liebeskind at “la cave de l’AMR” in Geneva.

Musiciens :

Madou Zerbo : voix, kamelen n’goni, karagnan, shaker. Adolphe Kinda : balafon, djembé, kenkeni, doudoumba, baram calebasse, maracas.
Adama Koné : balafon.
Marc Liebeskind : guitares acoustique et électrique, sit guitare, basse, calebasse, shaker.
Yael Miller : back vocal Cédric Asséo : flûte peul. Christophe Chambet : basse sur Dibi.

Kamelen n’goni and Donzon n’goni are pentatonics instruments, Kora’s cousin. They are a kind of traditional harpe-luth with 6, 8 or 12 strings, built from a big calabash 3/4 cut and empty. These instruments are 1m50 high. A wood neck crosses the calabash and maintains nylon strings (2 parallel lines as the kora). Strings are fixed with woods machine head (traditional) or metal machine head (modern). The calabash is covered with an animal skin (goat or veal). A 10 cm hole is made on the inside of the calabash to enable the sound coming out.
The kamelen ngoni and the Donzon ngoni look like very similar but have different functions in Africa traditions. Each one has its own musical genre as well as rhythms, repertoires and occasions to play.
Kamelen ngoni is an instrument created around the 70th and used to play uninitiated music outside the traditional framework. It’s usually played by young people (girls, boys & women) for occasions such as weddings, baptisms, anniversary, etc. It is smaller, tuned a fourth higher then the traditional n’goni and has eight, ten or twelve strings.

The Donzon N’Goni is a key instrument of the griot culture and the hunter’s world; it is the emblem of this brotherhood. Used for ceremonial purposes, as hunting techniques, occult power, weapons, fetishism and traditional medicine, it is, often, accompanied by singing and karagnan, a serrated metal tube that is scraped with a metal stick. Used for hunting ceremony, it’s one of the Wassoulou treasures in Mali has six strings and a deep sound.
Tuning : The pentatonic scale used most frequently for hunting’s music is quite unusual : tonic, Maj sec. Forth, fifth, and Maj seventh. Kamele ngoni plays often with other instruments as pentatonic balafon (minor pentatonic) and it will be tuned as the balafon.

Mangala Tiwari : voix & tampura
Santosh Mishra : Sarangi
Kishor Mishra : tabla

The late Mangala Tiwari, was an artist of the highest calibre from one of the oldest houses of classical Indian music, namely the ‘House of Benares’. An exemplary exponent of the ‘Khayal’ style of singing, the predominant style of the Hindustani or North Indian Classical tradition, displays effortless mastery over the improvisational aspects of the style.

Marc Liebeskind the sound engineer and producer of the album, delivers a fresh approach to a centuries old style. He experiments with the relative hierarchy amongst the various aspects of the ensemble and places the vocals at the same level as the stringed accompanist, i.e., the Sarangi, played by Maestro ……This elevation of the Sarangi from a much subdued background sound to an equal collaborator adds immensely to the quality of the experience, unlike anything even a seasoned listener would have had chance to come across.

The result is tapestry that enhances tradition, accentuates co-creation and soothes just as the Ganga in Benares.

Vijay Kipur : voice & harmonium
Kishor Mishra : tabla

A Bhajan is any type of Hindu devotional song. It has no fixed form: it may be as simple as a mantra or kirtan or as sophisticated as the dhrupad or kriti with music based on classical ragas and talas.[1] It is normally lyrical, expressing love for the Divine. The name, a cognate of bhakti, meaning religious devotion, suggests its importance to the bhakti movement that spread from the south of India throughout the entire subcontinent in the Moghul era.

Anecdotes and episodes from scriptures, the teachings of saints and descriptions of gods have all been the subject of bhajans. The Dhrupad style, Sufi qawwali[2] and the kirtan or song in the Haridasi tradition are related to bhajan. Nanak, Kabir, Meera, Narottama Dasa, Surdas and Tulsidas are notable composers. Traditions of bhajan such as Nirguni, Gorakhanathi, Vallabhapanthi, Ashtachhap, Madhura-bhakti and the traditional South Indian form Sampradya Bhajan each have their own repertoire and methods of singing.

credits
released 21 May 2006

Palaba Das : Druphad singer
Mangala Tiwari : Kyal singer & tampura
Santosh Mishra : Sarangi
Kishor Mishra : tabla
Prianka Ray : Bajan singer

Music recorded by Marc Liebeskind for the film Ganga Ma during the Kumba Mela 2001 in Benares. Kyal singer, Druhpad singer, Bhajan singers, temple prayers, sadus were recorded by Marc Liebeskind in his mobile studio installed in a hotel in Kedhar Ghat in Varanasi.

All photos by © Melitta Tchaicovsky

Fatoumata Dembélé : voice
Marc Liebeskind : guitar, sit-guitar, arrangements
Nana Cissokho : kora
Christophe Erard : bass
Nabankur Bhattacharia : tabla

Produced et arranged by Marc Liebeskind nearest mandingo tradition.

Boya Cissoko : voice, guitare & compositions

Song writer and singer, Boya interpret his songs with talent & conviction.