EFN Newsletter April 2026 #41
- EFN editor
- Apr 30
- 10 min read
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WELCOME AND SUMMARY
This month’s newsletter is a bit shorter than usual due to time constraints, but we didn’t want to miss our regular appointment with our community and friends. We will be back to our usual sections in the next edition.
Even so, this April issue still brings some substantial content: the full panels we held at Babel Music XP are now available, we welcome a new member, and we engage in conversation with one of those artists who invite us to reflect on roots, intercultural exchange and the relevance of traditional arts today.
This is what you'll find below:
🔹News from EFN:
▫️Reminder 2026 EFN Conference
▫️Listen to our Babel Music XP panels, now available as podcasts
🔸New member: ONEsas, from France
🔹Special content: Roots in Motion: Aly Keïta between West Africa and Germany
Thanks for your attention, have a fruitful reading and, please, share this with any person who could be interested!
News from EFN
🔸REMINDER 2026 EFN Conference: dates and location announced
Almeria (Spain), 13 & 14 november 2026
The conference will be hosted by EFN Member Fundación Indaliana para la Música y las Artes (Clasijazz), whose venue offers facilities for plenary sessions, breakout groups, catering and performances.
Follow us on social media to stay up to date.
🔸Listen to our Babel Music XP panels, now available as podcasts
As we announced on the latest edition of the newsletter, Babel Music XP would publish the recordings of the panel:
▫️Steven Vanderaspoilden talked in "What are the political stakes for traditional music at the international level?". With Rebecca Roger Cruz, Erol Josue, Aliette De Laleu (moderator), our Steven and Louis Jacques. Listen, here.
▫️Araceli Tzigane and Nod Knowles, in "Gaining visibility for heritage-based music". With Sébastien Laussel, director of Zone Franche. Listen, here.
The EFN welcomes a new member
🔹ONEsas, from France
A few weeks ago, Ivan Dontsov, founder and director of ONEsas, sent us their membership form to join the EFN.
This is how they introduced themselves: "We are a Paris-based French organization, comprising a team of partners from various countries who share common values and a passion for world culture. We focus on curating international cultural projects, connecting artists and spaces, cultures and languages, events and art forms."
And about the question on what you and/or your organisation think you can give to the European Folk Network as a member and what you think will be the benefits of membership, they answered:"We can share the experience of working on French (particularly, Paris) cultural market and discuss the opportunitites of presentation and promotion international folk bands in France."
Learn more and follow their social media:
Special content
Roots in Motion: Aly Keïta between West Africa and Germany
Interview by Araceli Tzigane. Answers translated and edited by Olha Kovalevska. Photographs by Olha Kovalevska.
A few weeks ago, Olha Kovalevska, from Urban Lys, contacted us about the release of the album Balafon Evolution (One World Records, 2026), by the Ivorian balafonist Aly Keïta with his trio. Take a listen to the album, here. Aly leads a Berlin-based trio that works with the balafon in dialogue with jazz and other musical languages. The group brings together musicians from different backgrounds and has developed its sound over time, with drummer Marcel van Cleef and bassist Roberto Badoglio forming its current core.
Born in Abidjan, Keïta comes from a griot family and was trained within the Mandingo balafon tradition. He later expanded his practice through international touring and engagement with jazz. Keïta’s trajectory also reflects broader dynamics within the European folk and traditional music landscape, where artists move across borders, negotiate different musical environments and continue to work from their own traditions in new contexts — a perspective that resonates with the discussions and exchanges fostered within the European Folk Network. On the occasion of his latest album release, we asked him a few questions on these matters. Find the conversation below.
Araceli Tzigane: You come from a deeply rooted Mandingo griot tradition, yet your music is now developing within the European scene, particularly in cities like Berlin. How do you perceive this shift? Do you feel that this music is taking root in Europe in a meaningful way, or does it remain something in transit?
Aly Keïta: I’ve been living in Berlin for over 20 years, and I started performing in Europe as a balafonist when I was 19. Over the years, I’ve gradually built a reputation not only for myself as a musician but also for my instrument. Although I was the first musician of African origin to receive the Deutscher Jazz Prize in Germany, and despite the fact that since I was 19 I’ve been playing jazz, fusion, and even contemporary experimental music (two albums with Lukas Ligeti). I had a chance to spend one week with his father György Ligeti and we spoke a lot about African music at his place. I have played with all kinds of ensembles, orchestras, choirs, and people from different countries, you still hear professionals say that the balafon is only for small cultural centers. My personal career is proof that this is not the case. The balafon has already taken root in Berlin’s music scene—along with me. Now, even when I’m on tour or busy, projects look for a balafonist to fill in. This means I’m doing a good job as a promoter of my instrument. I can say the same about other European countries. I often perform in France, Italy, the Benelux countries, and on other continents. The reach of the instruments created by the Keita brothers, my brothers, and me spans the entire world. Although I think the demand for the purely traditional balafon is declining slightly, as it was a novelty a decade ago. Now many music schools in Europe have training balafons; I personally give numerous workshops, and my brothers from Africa also come here for this, so it’s no longer such an exotic thing. What’s truly interesting is the integration of this instrument into the fusion of world cultures and musical genres. This is my passion and my obsession. And to the extent that the press confirms my assumptions—that is my achievement.
AT: Your trio brings together musicians from different cultural backgrounds who have found a common musical language. From your perspective, what happens to tradition when it is shared, transformed and performed in a European context like this?
AK: When I visit Africa and listen to local jazz bands, I realize where the true home, the birthplace, and the vanguard of jazz in the world really lie. Music continues to evolve where it was born, in a natural way, without outside interference. This is our living tradition. The same applies to purely folk music; it dominates in Africa today, at modern weddings, funerals, and the celebrations of ordinary Africans. But the world has globalized, and we didn’t invent this—it’s simply the natural course of events. And when musicians from different countries find a common musical language—isn’t that a miracle? Thanks to the mix of cultures and the people who represent them, countless people around the world are discovering other cultures and finding “bridges” to understanding one another. It’s the same for me and my European musicians—we play together not because I couldn’t find an African bassist or drummer. My address book is full of contacts of excellent African musicians, including drummers and bassists such as Linley Marthe, Etienne Mbappé, Manu Falla, Manu Gallo, Paco Séry, Mokthar Samba, Karim Ziad, Boris Tchango and Wendlavim Zabsonré, Angelo Moustapha. My trio and I have been playing together for many years because we share a common groove and we live in the same city, so we can rehearse. And that’s very important to me. Since I mostly play my own music, it’s easy for us to create together. But I can say that I would never have created my music without the depth of the traditions I grew up in, had I not been a griot. You could even say that my self-awareness as a griot was so deep that it transformed through my entire musical experience into my current music. Tradition inspires me—not a single evening goes by without me listening to a traditional village balafon in the grooves of my African feed. Tradition never leaves me, and it inspires my music.
AT: In Europe, we often speak about “traditional music” as something tied to place and heritage. How do you see the role of artists like yourself in shaping what could become the traditional or heritage music of tomorrow in Europe?
AK: For me, as a musician who plays contemporary music, tradition remains a key source of inspiration and a wellspring of ideas, meaning, and energy. At the same time, by engaging with other musical traditions, blending musical worlds, and reflecting on current events and the environment in which we create, certain elements take on new forms and meanings. A striking example of this is the Resident Music Collective, which was created several years ago at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. It is a vivid example of what will be tomorrow’s cultural heritage. Musicians from diverse global cultures come together in a musical circle, bringing their native songs and beats, and so—song by song—we immerse ourselves in other worlds, weaving elements of our cultures into the arrangements. This project has been running for several years, and we’ve already produced three distinct programs. It’s such a Berlin project—at the very core of its idea is the absence of division by race or culture, yet everyone has the opportunity to remain themselves and present their own story. In other words, we don’t dissolve into the collective, but rather enhance each individual culture with our ideas. In this way, we breathe new life into them, preserve them, and “translate” them into the musical language of the modern world—into each other’s languages. I think such projects have a great future, since the world is in a phase of merging the global and the local; this is our future cultural heritage, tied to a specific location—since we all met in Berlin—but one that also belongs to every country represented.
AT: When musicians from different traditions play together, what allows them to understand each other musically? Is there a common ground beyond specific traditions?
AK: For me, the first step in any musical dialogue is finding a shared groove. Yes, it’s not always easy, since musicians come not only from different cultures but may also have completely different musical tastes and represent different genres. Sometimes it’s hard to resist the urge to “rock out” and play minimalistically, to let someone else’s free jazz solo shine, or to “fit in” with the complex texture of contemporary German composed music with its broken rhythms. The balafon is a percussion instrument, and in Africa, rhythm is much more than just art—it’s also spirituality. So from the very first notes, you can tell what your “rhythmic identity” is, which country you’re from, and which ethnic group you belong to. And for me, it always starts with rhythm.
AT: The balafon has a strong link to specific social functions and traditions. What happens to those functions when the instrument is placed in concert settings and international circuits?
AK: In a traditional setting, the balafon serves many purposes. It can be part of a wedding, a funeral, or a birth celebration, where there is a specific sequence of traditional songs; it can be part of spiritual practices, such as mask dances; or it can be used for entertainment, dancing, and “celebrations of life.” And I think concerts are part of the last one. A large stage isn’t really the place for spiritual practices that require deep immersion, intimacy, and a secluded space. Concerts and festivals—of which there are countless in Africa—are culture, and they are necessary to spread, study, document, and popularize that culture. So at this time, the balafon’s local social functions are on hold or transforming into cultural ones. Here, people from completely different communities, ethnic groups, and backgrounds gather to rest and learn something new, stepping outside the boundaries of their local traditions.
AT: You have worked for many years within the European music scene. Has your relationship with your own musical tradition changed through this experience?
AK: No, I remain an integral part of my musical tradition, even though I don’t play every day as a griot. At family celebrations, I play with my brothers and other relatives from our large griot clan, and I have the same role as they do—they who perform this tradition almost every day. As soon as I get home, all the melodies—in the exact order I learned them from my father, uncle, grandmother, and other teachers of the griot tradition from my earliest childhood—come flooding back to me. And I absolutely love our traditional grooves and listen to the balafon all the time—specifically the traditional kind. Moreover, I’m also interested in related instruments from various African cultures and different countries. But it’s hard to surprise me with a balafon outside of tradition, because I’m ahead of all innovations myself.
Thank you, Aly, thank you, Olha. All the best for the new album.
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HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Are you already a member? Then, remember that you can submit contents for this monthly newsletter. Email your content to efneditors@gmail.com, for these sections:
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· Featured artist. - A profile with around 200 words, an embedded video and one link. Members are invited to submit profiles, considering solo and ensemble living or not living artists who have achieved lifelong artistic and technical quality or historical significance in the field of folk art from or developed in or settled in Europe. If you have any artists in mind that you'd like to feature, please ask in advance, just to be sure there is no other member already doing it.
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· Special sections. For instance, an interview with someone from an institution that is not a member or a thematic article by a guest writer or anything that can appear and be considered as interesting. This section can also host guest writers that are not members.
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BECOMING A MEMBER?
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