The Polyrhythmic Ensemble

The ensemble was formed in 2023 to create new works based on research into contrapuntal and polyrhythmic African music. As part of a funding initiative by the National Arts Council, guitarist Reza Khota was commissioned to compose music based on his PhD research, specifically into West African guitar styles. Following the critical postcolonial framing of Kofi Agawu, the musical impulse follows the traces of modal African tonalities, such as the odonson form of palm wine guitar, as well as that of Mande electric guitar music in Guinea. Expanding further, the ensemble also looks to other contrapuntal forms such as the amadinda music of Uganda while incorporating these influences into a jazz ethos of improvisation and harmonic colouring.

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