Music Weekends

Because people attend mosque on Friday afternoons, school is only held for four and a half days in The Gambia.  That means I'll be able to travel somewhere by gelleh gelleh (bush taxi)beginning Friday afternoons. At present I plan to spend many weekends in Brikama which is the music center of the country. I've studied West African drumming for the past seven years, but most of my teachers are from Guinea. That means I'll be exposed to a lot of new music. 

In preparation for my trip, I've been listening to music from The Gambia. I find myself loving the sound of the Kora, The Gambia's national instrument. I am so intrigued by it, that I've decided to take a few lessons in order to understand the basic technique. The kora is a Mandinkan harp-lute type instrument made from a large calabash, a rosewood pole and 21 strings which today are made from fishing line. 

I'll be taking lessons from Pa Bobo Jobarteh who comes from a long line of Griot. (Griot or jeli will be the subject of a later entry.) 

I'm attaching two YouTube entries. The one is of Pa Bobo playing in a compound. This may be where I take a lesson. Wherever it is, I probably can meet his brother Tata Dindin who is also a well-known kora player and also his father Malamini who was the manager of the Gambia National Troup and of course plays kora. 

Right now, a song that PaBobo composed, Peace, Love and Unity has become an unofficial national anthem of The Gambia. (Second video. Sung by another griot, Lamin Saho.) If you'd like to see more about Pa Bobo and his family, check out his site at www.kairakundaarts.org.