Boka Halat is a dance and concert band originally created by Roger Watson of TAPS and Musa Mboob from the Gambia in 1999. The name means ‘Mutual Inspiration' in the Wolof language of Gambia/Senegal. TAPS lost its funding in March 2008, but Boka Halat will continue under the joint management of Roger and Musa.
FOLK? WORLD? ROOTS? FORGET THE LABELS, LISTEN TO THE MUSIC!
The one question about their band Boka Halat which makes Roger Watson and Musa Mboob take deep breaths and roll their eyes is: What kind of music is it, then?
How do you classify the unclassifiable? Particularly when the whole point of the band is to breakdown stereotype images of the people who play in it. Their wry answer to the genre question is: the music you’d expect this group of people to make.
Boka Halat’s music goes beyond ‘multiculturalism’. The name means ‘mutual inspiration’ in Musa’s native Wolof language, and the technique is INTERcultural: to see what a group of diverse musicians can create, which none of them could arrive at on their own. Wherever the melodic or rhythmic stimulus originates, the band builds its arrangement on the principle of each member contributing a response from his own experience. Don’t expect the African songs to sound like Ladysmith Black Mambazo or Yussou N’Dour, nor the English ones like Show of Hands or Maddy Prior. Instead, be amazed at how naturally an English ballad sits with rhythms from the Gambia and the Punjab, or at how a song from the Mandinka rice harvest can move smoothly into a jig from Wessex.
Try finding a genre pigeon-hole for that!
Highlights of Boka Halat’s career, since its co-foundation by Roger and Musa in 1999, have included top spots at Sidmouth International, and Towersey Festivals, national touring - which has included prime venues such as South Hill Park, Bracknell, Wiltshire Music Centre, the Spitz in London and MAC in Birmingham - and live appearances on BBC Radio 3. Recent years have seen the band also touring extensively - and to sold-out houses - in rural venues in several counties.
Alongside performance work, Boka Halat has developed an extensive education programme, working with adults and young people in schools, colleges, universities and also arts centres and community venues, to share through practical and creative work, the message of intercultural collaboration, and learning about the common ground which links music from different parts of the world. Boka Halat has also delivered workshops at teachers’ conferences at all levels of formal education, and the training and enabling of music teachers and co-ordinators is an essential part of the education work.
hey guys, lovely space you have. is it really a year since that excellent session in Basingstoke? good luck with the mill gig. feel free to post flyers on my myspace. RAZ.
Your true family is found among the companions with whom you feel safe and at peace. Blessings to you Musa..Maam all the kids ... of course boka halat! xxx
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