Laurent Jeanneau

Laurent Jeanneau specializes in the recording of ethnic minorities alongside performing his own music. He has recorded over 200 albums and his work is now widely known across the world. Jeanneau approaches his ongoing documentation of ethnic minority music as an act of resistance to globalisation and cultural uniformity. He spends months living in unforgiving and hazardous environments in order to record and share performances in their everyday cultural contexts. He has produced close to one hundred albums of threatened music so far.

For the recordings he has done in Tanzania for instance, he undertook an exploration of indigenous Tanzanian music, including sacred and profane songs and dances of the Hadza, Datoga, and Makonde people. The cultures of these minority groups are threatened by rapidly changing landscapes and political upheaval. Their way of life stretches back to the Stone Age, and forms part of the common ancestry of all human beings. Their artistic expression comes in all forms, with music being a particularly rich and varied area. From DIY instruments made out of recycled materials to percussive performances using agricultural tools, music runs through the heart of everyday life.