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Album release by last master of ancient African five-stringed harp
Posted on May 18th, 2009 in World Music by Songlines.
World Music Network released an album on May 5 by the man they say is the final master of the biram – a large, boat-shaped five-string harp from the nomadic Boudouma tribe in Niger. Introducing Mamane Barka brings the sounds of this rare instrument to world audiences, and the story of Barka’s introduction to it is an extraordinary one.
Barka, a teacher and player of the ngurumi (stringed instrument), received a UNESCO scholarship in 2002 to realise his dream of reviving the tradition of the biram.
He went to live with the Boudouma on the shores of Lake Chad and there received an education in the playing of the biram and the ancient songs which accompany it from Boukar Tar, the last remaining master of the instrument.
Tar has since passed away, and with this release Barka hopes he will be making a major step towards preserving the sound of the biram and of the Boudouma peoples.
