About a month ago, I videotaped the band "Timbila" at their CD release party. Something happens when one observes a band through a camera, and I found myself thinking, "There's a story here." Unlike so many of the younger bands in New York City these days (whose members come together as strangers) that bloom for a while and then morph into other musical manifestations, Timbila is a band that evolved over a period of almost fifteen years. The story has deep roots in the world music community of New York, and front person Nora Balaban and guitarist Banning Eyre are a large part of it. For those who remember the funkier, more artful days of the East Village, the name Tribal Soundz, the music and instrument store that Nora ran for many years, will bring back fond memories. A few weeks ago I profiled Nora, only because I knew that the narrative was too big for just one posting. Here's the second section, in which I interviewed Banning Eyre, senior editor of Afropop Worldwide, noted author, journalist and guitarist. I wanted Banning to explain the challenges of working with both the mbira and mbila (timbila is plural of mbila) and combining elements of the African music he so loves with Nora's passion for rock.

There's even more to report than this. If time and space permit, I'll also post Banning's demonstrations about working a part out for guitar and mbira, and get into the group's side project with poet Bob Holman.

I am amazed that I only met Nora Balaban recently. I had known about her store "Tribal Soundz," the East Village haven for world music lovers and musicians for years (it is gone now, like the community that suppported it). Somehow our paths never crossed, and it was only when I saw her play in the group "Timbila" that it occurred to me that hers was a story worth telling. I started out by interviewing her, videotaping the band and as we spoke, she brought out photos, CDs, movies and even a 45! (The record, not the gun.) To try to put everything into one short piece was a bit beyond me, so I decided to split the info into two installments.  The first segment concentrates on how she "found" the timbila, and the second will focus more on the mbira and her work with Timbila the band.