UCLA ethnomusicology professor Cheryl Keyes offers an introduction and a post-film discussion about Throw Down Your Heart, the film that follows the musical adventures of American banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck as he visits Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia, and Mali and explores the little-known African roots of the banjo. Along the way, he works with a wide array of musicians—from local villagers who play a twelve-foot xylophone, to a family that makes and plays the akonting (thought by many to be the original banjo), to international superstars such as the Malian diva Oumou Sangare. Using his banjo, Fleck transcends barriers of language and culture, finding common ground with musicians from very different backgrounds and creating some of the most meaningful music of his career.
Cosponsored by the Ethnic Arts Council.