Nyamaropa
Harmen Fraanje | Magic Malik | Toma Gouband | Brice Soniano
Nyamaropa marks the second quartet collaboration between the long-standing trio of Harmen Fraanje (piano), Brice Soniano (acoustic bass), and Toma Gouband (percussion) alongside the celebrated flutist Malik Mezzadri. The album serves as a bridge between a contemporary Paris studio session and the ancestral echoes of the Cameroonian rainforest.
Artistic Vision
The music is deeply influenced by the ensemble’s experiences with the Baka Pygmies. By blending studio recordings with field-recorded spirits from a decade prior, the album captures a rare sense of “truth” in musical meeting. The soundscape is defined by Mezzadri’s “magical” flute and Gouband’s diverse instrumentation, including lithophones and branches.
A Personal Reflection
“At that moment I realised: we met in truth.”
— Brice Soniano, from the liner notes
Technical Credits
- Recording Date: August 22, 2016 (Paris) & 2006 (Cameroon).
- Studio: Studio 7-ème Ciel, Paris.
- Engineering: Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Céline Grangier.
Release Date: September 29, 2016.
Most of this music got recorded in one afternoon in a recording studio in Paris in August 2016, while some of it comes from the rainforest of Cameroon, ten years before.
Brice writes in the liner notes :
« One of my dearest memories ever: bringing Toma back to the airport, sitting at the back of a truck, and when it starts to drive away, the Baka women and children come running after the truck singing that song (Akon Etyé) leaving us with the echo of their voices in the forest and an indescribable feeling in our hearts… At that moment I realised: we met in truth. »
