djama ko: the pandemic commission that almost never happened

djama ko means people in bambara, the language of mali. and this episode is dedicated to someone who helped make the song possible. in 2020, arts consultant preston justice nominated orchestra gold for a yerba buena gardens festival mini commission, a program supporting 20 bay area artists around the themes of endurance, hope and community. marcelo aviles, director of programming at ybg festival, made sure it all came together. the commission paid the players and supported the video. without them this song might have stayed on the shelf. marcelo passed earlier this year. this one is for him. in this episode you'll hear the guitar lick inspired by norman greenbaum's spirit in the sky, the home studio demo recorded entirely during the pandemic, mariama talking about what djama ko really means, and a studio version featuring martin perna of antibalas on flute and kevin goldberg on bass. this is the gold transmission. we go behind the curtain so you can hear how the music actually gets made.9poFEyrocff4P25xeEHWwant to go deeper? the vault is where we keep the good stuff. podcasts (ad-free!), demos, unreleased recordings, behind-the-scenes music and more. starts at $4 a month.orchestragold.com/vault.and if you want to take a piece of us home, our music really comes alive on wax:orchestragold.com/store