| Mamane Barka CD released on World Music Network |
 Mamane Barka has recently released his debut album through World Music Network. The album, produced by Paul Borg, was mastered by John Webber at Blue Pro Mastering.
As a nomad of the Toubou tribe, Malam Mamane Barka is the indisputable son of the desert and the world’s only remaining master of the biram. He maintains the tradition single-handedly, bringing the boat-shaped instrument to world’s attention with his own unique blend of desert blues. Mamane Barka was born in Tesker, in the eastern part of the Niger Republic, in 1959. He was a teacher for many years before his skills on the ngurumi, a traditional string instrument, made him a celebrated musician in Niger and Nigeria. In 2002, he received a UNESCO scholarship to materialize his dream of reviving the tradition of the biram, an enormous boat-shaped five-string harp. He travelled to Lake Chad to meet the Boudouma, an ethnic group of nomadic fisherman, and their sacred instrument, the biram, which they believe is protected by the spirit of the lake Kargila. At the time Boukar Tar – the only remaining master of the biram – was still alive and he taught Mamane the secrets of the holy instrument and the lyrics of the mystical songs. He then gave Mamane the last biram and asked him to promote it all over the world.
|
