Throw Down Your Heart (DVD)

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Béla Fleck is a well-known American banjo artist who has won nine Grammy awards. More so, he has been nominated in more categories than any other artist in the history of Grammy nominations. Sascha Paladino´s documentary "Throw Down Your Heart" is an adventure trip that Béla and his crew undertake to various countries in Africa to understand the heritage of the African Banjo and its influence on the music community. Moreover, it is Béla´s quest to reach out to musicians at the grassroots level to produce new music.

The first destination on the trip is a remote village, Jinja, in Uganda, a country in the Eastern region of Africa sharing its borders with Kenya and Tanzania. Here Béla meets a local musician and the two of them jam for a few minutes, where the latter uses a unique violin-like instrument. Soon after, he is welcomed by his friend, Haruna Walusimbi, who takes him to a village named Nakisenyi for another jamming session. On reaching the village of Nakisenyi, Béla witnesses a group of people playing a giant instrument locally known as Marimba. Béla is flabbergasted by the sound produced by this instrument. According to him, the sound produced by this instrument is equivalent to the sound level of a rock band.

Marimba is a collection of wooden logs that are placed on a raised hollow platform. The platform itself is half buried to about five or six feet in the ground. To play the instrument, the local band members use short, thick wooden sticks so that rhythmic beats can be produced. This first jamming session is absolutely breathtaking as Béla is trying to keep up with the locals. In the same village, Béla then meets a woman musician, Ruth Akello, who is a local expert in playing the thumb piano-- an instrument with short steel strips mounted on a metal box. She also heads a local band, Ateso Jazz Band. Through his conversation with Ruth, Béla comes to know that social pressure possesses enough challenges for a woman musician.

The next stop is Bagamoyo in Tanzania, where Béla meets a blind musician, Anania Ngoliga. Anania is a skilled musician who is capable of playing multiple instruments such as maringa, guitar, and thumb piano. Here, he plays on a bigger version of a thumb piano. In this village, we also see a big influence from Hukwe Zawose, who is highly regarded as a singer in Tanzania even after his death. From Tanzania, Béla and his crew travel to the western region in Gambia where they meet the Jatta family. We are introduced to another African instrument called Akoting, which is a three-string instrument.

Finally, Béla reaches his last stop, Mali, that is regarded as the crown jewel in the African community in music. On reaching the Mali airport, Béla is greeted by a renowned African singer and old friend, Oumou Sangare. The documentary ends with Sangare singing a heartbreaking song that truly stays with you in the end.

This documentary brought back the memories of my stay in Africa. I lived in Tanzania for three years and traveled to various countries in Africa during the 1980s. I vividly remember the day I was walking back from school to home. On my way, I saw a group of musicians playing banjo while other people around them were dancing to the tune of a local folk song. The music was so pleasant and soulful that I decided to stay and watch the band play their folk songs. It was a memorable experience that to this day I still remember. Indeed, the opening shot in the documentary represents a striking similarity to what I witnessed about the grassroots culture that is present in local communities and its influence on music. It is just fascinating.