Banjoist Jayme Stone has been taking the instrument forward with his quartet, which mixes jazz, bluegrass, old-time and more. He’s studied with Tony Trischka, Bela Fleck and more, and won a Juno (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy). But for his latest project, he wanted to look way back.

Africa to Appalachia pairs Stone with Malian griot (musical storyteller) Mansa Sissoko and a group of Western and African musicians for a set of new and traditional music that combines the high-level plucking of Stone’s banjo, Sissoko’s harp-like kora, acoustic guitar and bass, the ngoni (the banjo’s African equivalent) and more.

It’s a cross-cultural party, as the Western influences slide easily into the Malian cadences and the African instruments easily keep up with blazing old-time tunes such as “June Apple.”

Ultimately, Stone said, he had done enough homework that he didn’t have to consciously ape anyone’s traditions. “It has our personalities at the forefront . . . and we’re just modern people who have a wide palette of influences.”

Stone knew that the banjo had its roots in Africa, that very similar instruments had made the crossing in slave ships to America and were still active in Africa. And he continued to dig into the musical legacy.

“I heard early on that the banjo had African roots,” says Stone, “and I was immediately curious. I’m someone who, by nature, likes to trace things back — I’ve always been an avid liner-notes reader, and whenever I’m into a musician, I learn all I can about their influences and keep peeling back the layers.”

Although the banjo’s roots were well known, Stone says, no one had ever taken up African music on it. “There are a lot of people who have explored the first white handoff music, which is minstrel music, which was happening in the 1700s and 1800s, up to the turn of the [20th] century. But it didn’t seem like anyone just played African music.”

Of course, historical and societal circumstances probably had something to do with that: “The culture of slavery in North America, which nobody likes to talk about, was clearly not the best context for an authentic and meaningful cultural transmission of music.”

So Stone started listening to music from West Africa, especially Mali. “I thought, ‘Wow! This is amazing music!’ And the fact that it was connected to the banjo made it even more compelling to explore.”

Right around then, he met Sissoko, who “put a human face on the whole idea. And it was so amazing to get to learn the music firsthand.” They spent a few days together in Stone’s home base of Toronto (he now splits time between there and Boulder, Colo.) playing music, and “literally from the first second it was so clear that there was a connection musically and otherwise. He’s kind of a standout person — I haven’t met many people from any country quite like him. He’s incredibly generous and warm and enthusiastic.”

And he inspired Stone to head to Mali for a three-month immersion in the music and the culture that produces it.

“I was certainly a curiosity” in Mali, Stone says — he was the first white person a lot of the rural people, especially the kids, had seen.

But the music made the connection.

“You see someone who looks so different, and then I play this instrument that they had never seen before — it’s this shiny, white-and-silver creation. But then, as soon as I would start playing, they wouldn’t bat an eyelash. It was music that was familiar to them, and they would just go, ‘Oh wow — that just sounds like a modern ngoni.’ After the first tune, no one would really ask me a lot about my instrument.”

Stone says that he learned things firsthand that you can’t get from listening to records. Not only did he get specific musical techniques, but he also saw a culture where music is “woven into the fabric of their everyday life.

“There’s music everywhere, all the time, and it’s really participatory. In the rural areas, places where there’s no electricity or running water, as soon as the sun goes down, there’s nothing to do. So people light a fire and cook dinner and play music until the wee hours. And in the more bustling cities, like Bamako, there’s a club scene and live concert scene where there’s music everywhere.”

And the griots, such as Sissoko, preside over “life-cycle events” such as births, weddings and funerals. “At all these celebrations, there’s traditional music to facilitate these moments . . . and to keep a sense of history,” says Stone, who adds that he got to play a wedding with Sissoko and some other griots. “Music is how they have meaning, and how they bring people together.” There are even songs that encourage people in various trades, such as farmers and hunters, “because life can be tough there.”

He took all that home with him to Toronto, and brought Sissoko and a few other African musicians to make Africa to Appalachia.

He says he had made “piles of field recordings” in Mali, but that, having learned the music on “their turf,” he wanted to make the record on his own — with producers and musicians he knew. “By the time it came to making the record, I felt like I could play like I play. . . . Before, when I was starting to play and learn West African music, I wanted to sound as African as I could muster. But after a while, and studying with Mansa, I felt like I was being myself and Mansa was being himself, and whatever came out felt right.

“I felt that I had absorbed enough that I was doing justice to that music and paying respect to that music, without trying to pretend that I’m someone else.”

Stone, Sissoko and the rest of the band are on an extensive tour for the record, and live playing has been another cultural exchange, as Stone continues his education and Sissoko, Stone says, learns about the Western way.

In Mali, Stone says, “A lot of times they just play, and the songs are 15 minutes, and they all go in different directions, and that’s that. They’re not looking for ‘What is the essence of this, and how do we get across what it’s about in a few minutes?’.”

Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko are at the Blackstone River Theatre, 549 Broad St., Cumberland, Saturday night at 8. Tickets are $12, $14 the day of the show; call (401) 725-9272.

You’ll already be at the BRT for that show, because you’ll have been listening to the excellent Nordic folk band Frigg, whose record Economy Class combines Norwegian and Finnish folk traditions with the energy of youth and the influences of country and bluegrass. Same time, same address, same phone number; tickets are $15 in advance and $18 the day of the show. Bring a sleeping bag so you’re already there for Stone and Sissoko — tell Russell I said it was OK!

The FirstWorks Festival continues with a weekend of free electronic music and new media at URI’s Shepard Building Auditorium, 80 Washington St., Providence, at 10 tomorrow and Saturday nights. Artists include Jacob Richmond, Lucky Leone and Lyn Goeringer (whose “Box” performance is a true mindwarp) tomorrow night, and Arvid Tomayko-Peters, Alessandro Cipriani and the MEME Ensemble Saturday. It’s part of the Pixilerations new-media element of FirstWorks and it promises something truly new

By: Massimo