N'Gri is a rhythm from Mali. where it is normally played with only two drums. Traditionally it used to be played by the feticheurs (magicians). The rhythm starts slowly and it's tempo is rising continuously going on to a climax. You could say that it evaloves from a "swung binary" to ternary. The djembe solo's are played more and more intensly as well.
Wassolonka (Wasulunke) means "from Wassolon" and Wassolon is an area that covers a region on both sides of the border between Guinea and Mali. It's a popular rhythm among the Malinke that live in that area. There are some interpretation differeces possible.
"Wasulunka (Kirin) . The rhythm Kirin from the Wasulun region (a very small region, southwest of Bougouni and near Yanfolila) is called Wasulunka (which means "a person from Wasulun") in Bamako. The song (on this CD ) is " n'i den t'i bolo " ("If you have no child"). Wasulun music uses the same pentatonic scale as most Bamana music, which makes it easy to integrate Wasulun into the Bamana repertoire. Most Wasulun singers know how to sing Bamana songs and vice versa (in contrast it is more difficult to integrate the songs of most Maninka jeli singers (griot heptatonic style) in either a Bamana or Wasulun musical context)." (Rainer Polak on the Bamako Foli CD.
"N'Gri is a Wassoulou dance from the Sigasso area"Mamadou Kante on the CD "Drum s of Mali".
In the book "A life for the Djembe" from Ushi Bilmeier / Mamady Keita the rhythm is sorted to the populair rhythms: "Wassolonka (ethnical group Malinke, Guinea, Wassolon region) means "from Wassolon" and is played at every festival".
"From the etnic group Wassulunke, from the Sikasso region in Mali, this rhythm is played at the end of the harvest. Very populair in the Bamako region" (Serge Blanc in Le Tambour Djembe).
I learned it also during the begin-period of my djembé lessons as named Bubuninca.. It is also a krin-piece on Mamady's CD Nankama. It is possible that Bubuninca is a song that is sung with the Wassolonka-rhythm. But it might be easy if it's a matter of mispronouncing / missspelling: Rainer thinks Bubuni- should be Bougouni, -ca should be spelled -ka. So bubuninca should be spelled Bougouninka (french) or Buguninka (Manding) and means "man/woman from Bougounin". Buguninka simply stand analogous for Wasulunka [which is not exactly true, since Bougouni is some km outside of Wasulun region proper. But has some truth and makes sense, since B. is the larger town closest to Bougouni].
Another quote:
"N'gri means something like "Jump" in Bamana because one of the main hallmark dance steps during the middle part of N'gri is a jumping step. N'gri is the premier and first djembe rhythm because it was the
first rhythm played on djembe when it came out of hiding. Kumba Sidibe was the first woman to dance N'gri played on djembe. N'gri is from Wassolo that is why it is often called Wassolonka (which means rhythm from Wassolo). N'gri is a very difficult rhythm to master in terms of the solo. The solo is very specific and is speaking Bamana history about Kumba Sidibe and her pregnancy. Ngri has 4 stages from slow to fastest. The 4 parts in order are called: Sensen - N'gri - Kolonbri - Jebenije. It is a very important djembe rhythm for any djembe player to learn if they want to move to a higher level in the music. What I have learned about this rhythm comes from my teacher Abdoulaye Diakite. He is a master and one of the only people alive that has the complete knowledge of this rhythm. I would also recommend Abdoul Doumbia for more info on N'gri. By Jeremy".
Be ware that micro timing is important in N'Gri so try and find (Mali) music for mor understanding.. There is much more knowledge about this rhythm to be found, most in Bamako, Mali. More ideas? If so, please contact me with more info (pcnas[at]scarlet.nl).

Sources:
Lessons from Martin Bernhard.
Written material:Ushi Bilmeier / Mamady Keita: "A Life for the Djembe", Serge Blanc: "Le Tambour Djembe", Anton Kamp: "West Afrikaanse Percussie", Rob den Brasem, "West Afrilaanse en Cubaanse Drum ritmes", Stephan Rigert: "Djembe rhythmen aus Mali", Drew Ravey and, Rafael Kronberger: YAPPages.
Media: CD Bamako Foli by Rainer Polak, CD Drums from Mali by Mamoudou Kante, CD "Afö" by Mamady Keita, CD "Village Djembe" (unknown artist).
WAPpages / Paul Nas / Last changed at 12-02-2008

Sangban / Doun doun (key-pattern for two drums)

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Call 1

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Call 2

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Extra pattern 1 (kenkeni or doun doun) (Mamady Keita: Wassolonka, Martin Bernhard; Bubuninca)

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Extra pattern 2 (kenkeni or doun doun) (Serge Blanc; Wasulunke, Stephan Rigert; Wassolonka)

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Extra pattern 3 (doun doun) (Mamady Keita; Wassolonka, Martin Bernhard; Bubuninca)

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Djembé 1

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Djembé 2

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Djembé 4(covers the "melody" of Wassolonka)

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Djembé 5

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Djembé solo accompagnement 1

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Key Pattern echauffement (sometimes continueusly used in the faster part).

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index | legenda (nl) | legend (en) | inleiding (nl) | introduction (en)

Thanks for taking notice of this interpretation of this rhythm but please consult some real authority's (like Famoudou Konaté and Mamady Keïta) or genuine TEACHERS for further study. Check also the other SITES WITH RHYTHM-NOTATIONS on West African Percussion on the Internet. And share your knowledge and ideas to these WAP-pages and to others.