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Mama Likembi

Nadi Qamar
Mama Likembi Musician Nadi Qamar presents six original compositions played on the Mama-Likembi, an instrument he designed and named that consists of a grouping of African thumb pianos to be played with the fingers rather than the thumbs. The thumb piano originated in Africa, a continent known for percussive instruments, and is nicknamed by some as a thumb drum. Qamar, a jazz pianist, “draws from many sources to project a contemporary Black expression,” as he writes in the liner notes; they include African, Asian, and jazz musical influences. This is the last of Qamar’s four recordings for Folkways.