VOA标准英语2010年-US Rock Group Collaborates with Malian

An up-and-coming rock group from Brooklyn, New York has launched a collaboration¹ with local artists in Mali.

At Studio Bogolan in Mali's capital city of Bamako, Jeremiah Lockwood is working on the guitar part for a song on a new album by his band, the Sway Machinery².

The album's working title is "Why we make Pilgrimage".  Lockwood says coming to Mali has been a magical experience. "I am coming here it is like a dream, and I am imagining something like a historical path, like the path the merchants and the people from the Middle East took down here bringing their music and their culture, and their swords of course, to come and bring their culture to this land," he said.

The Sway Machinery blends traditional Jewish music with a powerful horn section and driving drum beats.  This is their song, Anim Zemiros off their first Album, "Hidden Melodies Revealed".  Their next album will feature three songs by Malian folksinger Khaira Arby.

Arby says she can put all of the melodies she wants into their songs.  And the Sway Machinery can play all of the music she sings.  It is something that comes together well and sounds good.

Arby says this song she wrote, called Gawa Teria Mou, is about peace.  In this version the Sway Machinery backs up Arby's voice.

Arby says the song is about working together in peace on the land, working together in understanding.  The song says we do not want bombs or war, we want irrigation for farming and seeds to plant in the earth.  Arby says the song is about ending war in Africa and around the world and was written in response to political unrest in Northern Mali.

During their trip, the Sway Machinery traveled to the annual Festival in the Desert in Northern Mali, in the sand dunes³ near Timbuktu, where they played in front of hundreds of people from around the world.

The U.S. State Department has a travel advisory⁴ for Timbuktu because of past terrorist activities in the region by the group al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.  The terrorist group is currently holding six European hostages.

Sway Machinery trumpet⁵ player Jordan McLean says that did not stop him from coming to Mali. "I did everything I could to educate myself about al-Qaida in Mali, and after weighing everything it did not seem like a viable⁶ enough threat to miss out on what would otherwise be an unbelievable opportunity and experience," he said.

The Sway Machinery musicians say their music takes listeners into hidden worlds, uniting past and present.  Lead singer Lockwood says he wants their music to bring people together.

"I hope that when people listen to our music, the first thing is that they will have a joyful⁷, emotional reaction, and it will be like coming to the center of the village and everybody is going to get together and dance.  And then there is also trying to communicate some kind of information about history, it is maybe not facts, but some kind of feeling about the places that the music is coming from," he said.

This song Sourgou [SUH-roo-goo] on the new album, is also by Khaira Arby with drums by the group Super Khomeissa.  The song is an homage⁸ to the nomadic⁹ Tuareg people of Northern Africa.  Arby says she also wants to transport people with her music, taking them to her home town of Timbuktu.

When people listen to her music, Arby says she wants them to experience Mali, the north of Mali, the history of Timbuktu and the mystery of the city through her voice.

Colin Stetson plays the Baritone Saxophone.  He says the collaboration is one of equals. "We are not trying to get anyone to do anything for us.  We are coming to sit down and have people bring whatever they want, what they see fit.  You know, equals around a table," he said.

 

1 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

2 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

3 dunes   

沙丘( dune的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The boy galloped over the dunes barefoot. 那男孩光着脚在沙丘间飞跑。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat. 将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

4 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

5 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

6 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

7 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

8 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

9 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。