Fatala

by Steve Huey
Traditional drum and dance troupe formed in 1981 by master percussionist Yacouba Camara. Camara left Guinea in the '60s, traveling through West Africa and Europe and living in Paris and Holland. After making a name for himself, he returned to Guinea and recruited musicians and dancers for the ensemble that gradually became Fatala. Their instrumentation includes traditional drums, balafon, kora, and electric guitars, and they perform traditional material with no European influences, saying that Europeans try to copy African rhythms without keeping them African. Their debut album was a result of two gigs with Peter Gabriel, and they toured the U.S. in 1989.