Watch a video of "Gonpir”, a track from the Ghanaian xylophone player's new album Yonye
SK Kakraba Lobi is a Ghanaian master xylophonist and instrument maker. Kakraba builds and plays the gyil – a xylophone constructed out of 14 wooden slats suspended over calabash gourds fitted with resonators. It is a primary instrument of the Lobi, Sisala, and Dagara people in Northern Ghana. Kakraba previously taught gyil at the International Centre for African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana.
He is currently living in Los Angeles, his forthcoming album Yonye (Travel And See) is a collection of solo recordings of traditional songs, recorded after Kakraba arrived in the US.
Yonye is released by Sun Ark Records
Recorded at Los Angeles's Getty Museum, 2015
