Biography
The Balafon Marimba Ensemble, an Oregon-based outfit of five men and three women, delivers a high-energy, multilayered reading of African and Caribbean traditions. Their self-built instruments generate a dense, percussive roar, and nearly half the pieces they play originate in Zimbabwe, with the balance drawn from Zaire, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
The group came together in 1981 inside an Oregon State University class. After constructing their first set of marimbas, they started playing throughout the western United States. When the university tried to dictate acceptable performance locations, the ensemble left the school and fabricated a second set of instruments that they still use.
In 1989 the musicians decided to treat the project as a full-time career, bringing on a manager and looking for a label. Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart could not clear his calendar to produce their debut album, yet he booked the ensemble as the opening act for the Dead’s Mardi Gras concert in Oakland, California. Two years afterward, he placed them on the bill of a Las Vegas concert tied to the release of his book “Planet Drum” at the Bookseller’s Convention.
Although the players hold an assortment of day jobs—ranging from running a sporting-goods store to baking at a vegetarian restaurant—they have never wavered in their commitment to the music. Only three founding members, Gray Mercer, Leslie Crisp, and Ann Takamoto, remain, yet every later addition has performed with the ensemble for more than a decade.
The group came together in 1981 inside an Oregon State University class. After constructing their first set of marimbas, they started playing throughout the western United States. When the university tried to dictate acceptable performance locations, the ensemble left the school and fabricated a second set of instruments that they still use.
In 1989 the musicians decided to treat the project as a full-time career, bringing on a manager and looking for a label. Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart could not clear his calendar to produce their debut album, yet he booked the ensemble as the opening act for the Dead’s Mardi Gras concert in Oakland, California. Two years afterward, he placed them on the bill of a Las Vegas concert tied to the release of his book “Planet Drum” at the Bookseller’s Convention.
Although the players hold an assortment of day jobs—ranging from running a sporting-goods store to baking at a vegetarian restaurant—they have never wavered in their commitment to the music. Only three founding members, Gray Mercer, Leslie Crisp, and Ann Takamoto, remain, yet every later addition has performed with the ensemble for more than a decade.
Albums
