Once these hollows were mausoleums for griots, or storytellers, who were buried inside, standing up.
|
|
One should definitely attend performances from Wakandan griots that take place in neighborhood outdoor amphitheaters.
|
|
Other subjects included street magicians, griots and the radical group Move's standoff with authorities in Philadelphia.
|
|
Both Tupac and Hussle were transformed in death from hood griots to ghetto saints, from verbal magicians to generational martyrs.
|
|
Depending on your interest, you can find griots specializing in history, engineering, design and aeronautics, as well as more traditional fictional tales.
|
|
Traditional West African storytellers, griots carry their people's traditions from generation to generation, and are renowned for their encyclopedic knowledge, their wit and their ability to bridge the past and present.
|
|
It's hard to imagine a time when the Kronos Quartet was not emphatically crossing musical boundaries, from its early days covering Jimi Hendrix to its most recent collaborations with Malian griots.
|
|
Sory's work, seen today, seems to beckon across the gulf of time to a past all but lost, a past mired in legends of emirs and mansas and griots, a past that reforms into an ever-evolving
|
|
And wending through all these personal sagas are half-mythical characters and archetypes hidden amid mundanity: griots and ghosts; Cinnamon's famous "hoodoo"-practicing grandparents; and the Wanderer itself, which takes on different names and incarnations as past and present merge.
|
|
Composed in cadences reminiscent of fables, this poem is a bittersweet song for our tortured world, dispensing light and dark equally as it imparts — with a candor usually reserved for children or griots — yet another chapter in the eternally calamitous tale of humanity.
|
|
Robert Palmer, in his book " Deep Blues ," writes of griots in Senegambia, on the West Coast of Africa, singing songs of praise, of Yoruba drumming, of the African origins of the "blue notes," the flatted thirds and sevenths, that are so distinctive in early Southern work songs and later blues.
|
|
Stories are shape-shifters, infinite and immortal: They've been painted on the walls of Chauvet Cave and pressed into clay tablets; sung by griots in the streets of Old Mali and cut into the Peruvian desert; danced and drummed and whispered, spun like spider-silk across the Atlantic and painted on the undersides of overpasses.
|
|
Keita praises the griots and claims that griots "have contributed positively to toward the building of a modern nation-state". Contrary to beliefs that griots were seen as a part of a lower class, Keita presents an "aristocratic view of contemporary griots". Keita's perspective on griots provides a different outlook on the position of griots in modern Mali. Although griots are looked at as being a part of a low caste, griots have added to cultural and historical modern Mali society.
|
|
Griots are repositories of African history, especially in African societies with no written language. Griots can recite genealogies going back centuries. They recite epics that reveal historical occurrences and events. Griots can go for hours and even days reciting the histories and genealogies of societies.
|
|
Sunjata was very protective of Kuyate, in turn; Kuyate was extremely loyal to Sunjata. It is the job of the griots to be loyal to the family or person they “work” for. Griots did not merely work for the nobility, griots in the Mali Empire also worked for villages. Such griots were used to recite history of births and deaths, battles and marriages in the village.
|
|
The relationship between griots and nobles may appear to be a difficult one to understand. As seen through the relationship described between Sunjata and Bala Faaseega Kuyate, the noble and griot relationship is sometimes represented as a partnership. Dr. Barbara G. Hoffman, an associate professor of Anthropology at Cleveland State University, discusses in her book Griots at War: Conflict, Conciliation, and Caste in Mande the relationship between griots and nobles. She writes that “tension is often expressed through nobles’ criticism of griots’ “empty speech” or griots’ disdain for nobles lack of self-knowledge”.
|
|
"Jeliya- The Art of Jeli (Griot)". Jelis have an "exclusive right to play the kora". Jelis are similar to griots because they also recount history but the jelis role is to "Sing and recount Mande social and political life". In reference to a griot, griots are only supposed to marry other griots.
|
|
But griots no longer > exist.”L'assemblée des djinns, p.
|
|
In modern-day Mali, griots are often singers or musicians. For example, Abdoulaye Diabaté, a singer from Mali, was born into a family of griots in 1956. Diabaté has a plethora of experience in contemporary and popular music. Baba Sissoko is also considered a Malian griot because he was born into a family of griots.
|
|
The Sunjata story shows that in the Mali Empire, noble families needed griots in order to spread family history. Sunjata states, “I want no part of it [father’s property] except the griots”.
|
|
In present-day Mali, oral historians / griots are sometimes seen as “intermediaries” between two parties. Oral historians in modern Mali often act as mediators between those from different political parties. Jan Jansen in The Griot’s Craft: An Essay on Oral Tradition and Diplomacy discusses the role and skills of oral historians in modern-day Mali: He writes about “being sent” as a strategy for modern-day griots. Similarly to griots during the Mali Empire, modern-day griots must also pass messages between different parties. The skill of “being sent” allows for “negotiation” to occur between parties that may not have negotiated without the help of griots.
|
|
Suso, p. 127. Sunjata’s need for a griot emphasizes how noble families and griots were often seen as undividable. In the Mali Empire, griots were associated with noble families because such families needed oral historians to accompany them in order to tell the history of their life. Emperors and great warriors often had griots and with such griots, oral history in Mali spreads. The oral historians who were “assigned” to or rather “chosen” for a family were set to remain loyal to that family for life.
|
|
The T'heydinn is an oral history of each Moorish tribe which is recited and handed down the generations by the tribe's griots through music and poetry. In traditional Moorish society, each tribe maintained its griots on a gabdh, a kind of lifelong annual pension. Changes in lifestyle have meant this no longer the case and the T'heydin is today an endangered oral culture. Most of the griots today are elderly, with rapidly diminishing numbers and very few youngsters show an interest in taking up the griots lifestyle.
|
|
Although a griot himself, Diabaté came to see his contemporaries as parasites and beggars who often perverted history and abused their roles in pursuit of wealth:Keïta 1995, p. 22. “After Mali’s independence, griots became, in my opinion, what I would a call a parasite.”Keïta 1995, p. 119. The state of griots was a key theme in his work. In L'assemblée des djinns, he elucidates his concerns through one of his characters: > “The griots died before the arrival of the Whites, when our kings, instead > of uniting against a common danger, tore each other to shreds. Today’s > griots are nothing more than public entertainers who sing the praises of > just about anybody… Chief of the Griots!...
|
|
Hoffman, Barbara (2000). Griots at War: Conflict, Conciliation, and Caste in Mande. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, p. 53. While griots take pride in understanding themselves and life around them, nobles are often more focused on worldly aspects.
|
|
In 1994, he became head of the Association of Griots of Mali and dedicated himself to restoring the griots (who he preferred to call jeli) to a prominent role in Malian life. He began courtesy visits to foreign heads of state visiting Mali and won recognition for the Association of Griots in the protocol list of the Republic in many official ceremonies. He also began accompanying the family of Niaré, founders of Bamako, to the mosque for the Tabaski prayer. Finally, he put in place official ceremonies for the naming of head griots in different cities, such as San and Naréna.
|
|
After World War II, there was a rise in the night club scene where more diverse forms of music began to be played by foreigners. Coincidentally enough, Senegal became very much interested in the new form of fashion. However, this allowed non-griots the opportunity to capture persons which was once the job of the griots. While there was much competition between the two, modern day griots used their positions as a way to incorporate modern day music.
|
|
Although griots are seen as being inferior to nobles, griots have no issue criticizing the faults of the family they work for. Such a willingness to criticize emphasizes the fact that griots do have in Mali despite their position in the caste system. Also included in Conrad's book is Cherif Keita's essay "Jaliya in the Modern World: A Tribute to Banzumana Sissoko and Massa Makan Diabate", in which Cherif Keita presents a "tribute to contemporary bards".Conrad, p. 16.
|
|
The T'heydin is an oral tradition that is handed down the generations through the imitation of the musical talents of the ancestors and is performed on festive occasions with musical accompaniment. The griots live in all regions of Mauritania, although some regions are better known for their griot families. The regions of Hodh, Tagant-Assaba, Trarza-Brakna and Adrar are particularly well known for its griots. The population of griots is currently estimated to stand at over a thousand.
|
|
A hereditary caste occupying the fringes of society, the griots were charged with memorizing the histories of local rulers and personages and the caste was further broken down into music-playing griots (similar to bards) and non-music playing griots. Like Praise-singers, the griot's main profession was musical acquisition and prowess, and patrons were the sole means of financial support. Modern griots enjoy higher status in the patronage of rich individuals in places such as Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea, and to some extent make up the vast majority of musicians in these countries. Examples of modern popular griot artists include Salif Keita, Youssou N'Dour, Mamadou Diabate, Rokia Traore and Toumani Diabate.
|
|
As detailed in Patricia Tang's article The Rapper as Modern Griot: Reclaiming Ancient Traditions, over the years, both Senegalese and American rappers have labeled themselves "modern-day griots". Many disagree with this assertion because there is such a great contrast between griots and rappers, and the roles they play within society. Griots are musicians or entertainers hired by royalty, or the upper-class, to songs of praise. The subject matter of these songs usually consists of admiration for nobles, but can also include commentary on social issues.
|
|
Griots come from long lineages of griots, the role of griot being passed down generation to generation. Griots thus have history, and this lineage, this great past, is connected with the idea of authenticity, therefore, when rappers assume the name "modern-day griot", they are given part of that history, and their art forms then become more "authentic". For U.S. rappers, it takes a step further because not only are they connecting themselves to the "authenticity" of griots, they are also becoming a part of the history of Africa, which has a much greater cultural history and thus an even greater form of authenticity. For rappers, history has become a legitimizing force, but such a focus on the past also has its consequences.
|
|
Despite the relationship that is suggested in Sunjata, the relationship between nobles and griots can be seen as extremely different from that of loyalty and partnership. Hoffman views the relationship between griots and nobles as showing a sharp distinction between castes. Hoffman writes, “This [the caste system] was a central issue for the griots and nobles present at this Kita celebration. They generated social difference and the reinforcement of social boundaries through a repertoire of strategies for recreating old social structures as well as for creating new ones”.
|
|
Bakari Sumano (1935 – July 21, 2003) was head of Malian association of griots (wandering poet-musicians) from 1994 until his death.
|
|
"Praise songs, far from being superseded, have instead become incorporated into popular music..." Today, "griots have found new meaning for old customs, and new functions for old skills," Although they originated from a caste which held no political power, modern griots still hold much power and status and are better off in life than modern families.
|
|
A talking-drum player with Youssou N'Dour Senegalese songs are usually unwritten, and certain instruments or musical styles are reserved for specific genders or age groups. In the past, only griots could perform music. Their traditional role was transmitting oral history, genealogies and social rankings, diplomacy, and storytelling. Today, griots continue to participate in naming ceremonies, weddings, and funerals.
|
|
The origins of oral history in Mali may be traced back to the story of Sunjata Keita. Modern-day oral history in Mali has transformed from the history based griots to a more contemporary musical and negotiator based griots. The current state of oral history in Mali has travelled to other realms like popular culture and politics.
|
|
Not only were griots used to recite history of births and deaths, battles and marriages in the villages, but oral historians and griots are also an important cultural facet in Mali in terms of language. Because oral history, is exactly as the name describes, a means of passing history verbally, language is also passed on by oral historians.
|
|
Today, performing is one of the most common functions of a griot. Their range of exposure has widened, and many griots now travel internationally to sing and play the kora or other instruments. Bakari Sumano, head of the Association of Bamako Griots in Mali from 1994 to 2003, was an internationally known advocate for the significance of the griot in West African society.
|
|
Elsewhere in Africa, oral traditions of genealogical recording predominate. Members of the Keita dynasty of Mali, for example, have had their pedigrees sung by griots during annual ceremonies since the 14th century. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, many ruling clans - most notably those descended from Oduduwa - claim descent from the legendary King Kisra. Here too, pedigrees are recited by griots attached to the royal courts.
|
|
The influence of the music of West Africa can be found in music elsewhere. Griots, who are wandering musicians, are found throughout the region.
|
|
"Louis York: American Griots, Weirdo Workshop Founders, and Multi - GRAMMY Nominated Musicians." The World Music Foundation Podcast. The World Music Foundation. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
|
|
The Manding term jeliya (meaning "musicianhood") sometimes refers to the knowledge of griots, indicating the hereditary nature of the class. Jali comes from the root word jali or djali (blood). This is also the title given to griots in regions within the former Mali Empire. Though the term "griot" is more common in English, some, such as poet Bakari Sumano, prefer the term jeli.
|
|
However they often play the combined role of historians, genealogists, musicians, spokespeople, advisors, diplomats, interpreters, reporters, composers, teachers and poets. In the precolonial monarchical societies of Senegal (ie. Jolof, Futa Toro and Bundu empires), griots were directly attached as advisors to an aristocratic court. Later, with the expansion of Islam in Senegal from the 11th-15th centuries, some griots became attendants to Islamic scholars.
|
|
One cannot become a Griot; one must be born into a family of griots to hold that position. Sometimes, a key aspect to signify who is a griot can be found in the last name. Jeliyas are similar to griots but are not born into a griot family. Jeliya described as the "art of the griot" refers to a type of "musical and verbal artist".
|
|
The Memphis Jug Band, an early blues group, whose lyrical content and rhythmic singing predated rapping. Rapping can be traced back to its African roots. Centuries before hip-hop music existed, the griots of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, over drums and sparse instrumentation. Such connections have been acknowledged by many modern artists, modern day "griots", spoken word artists, mainstream news sources, and academics.
|
|
Griots today live in many parts of West Africa and are present among the Mande peoples (Mandinka, Malinké, Bambara, etc.), Fulɓe (Fula), Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritanian Arabs, and many other smaller groups. The word may derive from the French transliteration "guiriot" of the Portuguese word "criado", or the masculine singular term for "servant." Griots are more predominant in the northern portions of West Africa. In African languages, griots are referred to by a number of names: jeli in northern Mande areas, jali in southern Mande areas, guewel in Wolof, gawlo in Pulaar (Fula), iggawen in Hassaniyan, arokin in Yoruba, and diari or gesere in Soninke.
|
|
Loyalty was an important quality a griot must have. In Suso’s version of the Sunjata story says: “We [griots] will not abandon him”.Suso, p. 133.
|
|
Gardner, John. "Louis York: American Griots, Weirdo Workshop Founders, and Multi - GRAMMY Nominated Musicians." The World Music Foundation Podcast. The World Music Foundation. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
|
|
Among Mandinka, the Nyamakala occupational castes included Jeli or Jeliyu (musicians, griots), Numu (carpenters, smiths), Garanke (leather workers, weavers) and Fune or Finah (singers specializing in Islamic praise). The specific castes had different terms in other ethnic groups of West Africa. For example, among the Soninke people, the griots were called Gesere, the smiths Tage and the carpenter caste was called Sake. The Nyamakala have been endogamous, occupation inheriting castes.
|
|
Christopher Wise, Sorcery, Totem, and Jihad in African Philosophy (2017), pp. 44-45. By the late 1990s, there were reportedly 64 published versions of the Epic of Sunjata. Although traditionally attributed to Mahmud Kati, Tarikh al-Fattash was written by at least three different authors. Among the Mandé, griots are a group, traditionally a specialized casteBarbara G. Hoffman, Griots at War: Conflict, Conciliation, and Caste in Mande (Indiana University Press, 2001).
|
|
Kora-playing griots in Senegal, 1900. Both the Kora, a 21-stringed harp-lute, and the griot musical- caste are unique to West Africa. Griot artists and praise-singing is an important musical tradition related to the oral history of West African culture. Traditionally, musical and oral history as conveyed over generations by griots are typical of West African culture in Mande, Wolof, Songhay, Serer and, to some extent, Fula areas in the far west.
|
|
Innercity Griots is the second studio album by American hip hop group Freestyle Fellowship. It was released on April 28, 1993 on 4th & B'way Records and distributed through Island Records.
|
|
In Harlem, men and women gather to recount the miracles of Diarra Bousso and her son Amadou Bamba, recite her khassaïd (poetry), and listen to griots sing of her life.
|
|
It is the only ongoing literary awards show that recognizes griots from the diaspora. Eric Jerome Dickey was named Distinguished Lecturer of the Leimert Park Village Book Fair, August 2018.
|
|
They included, for example, the garanke (leather workers) below the fune (bard), the fune below the gesere or jeli (griots, singers), the jeli below the tage or numu (smiths, pottery workers).
|
|
It is similar to the musical instrument that griots and other Africans such as the Igbo played (called halam or akonting by African peoples such as the Wolof, Fula and Mandinka).
|
|
Other than English, other language influences are based on oral traditions such as African griots, "talk over" of Jamaica and the blues.Beau, Marie-Agnes. "Hip Hop and Rap in Europe." 1999.
|
|
Prior to the wide spread of hip hop in Senegal, traditional music was transcended through pre-ordained griots. The term griot, also known as gewel, can be defined as, "… traditional praise-singer, musician, social go-between, counselors, or dancer and acrobat," These individuals were born into, "endogamous, professionally specialized group often referred to as a 'caste'." Their position in Senegal society was that of much importance for griots were also known for their abilities as oral specialist who, "…had to guarantee not only the survival of their people as a culturally and historically defined group, but also the social status of the nobles they were attached to." Griots were culturally responsible for knowing their genealogies in speaking and in song, to recite for the nobles.
|
|
While in modern-day Senegal, griots can be placed in three categories. "Those who have decided to refrain from practicing their hereditary profession and have taken up some other occupation; those who continue to perform, without innovation, and those who have managed to find or create a new kind of occupation that still seems to fit the traditional griots' ethos adapting the art of their ancestors to modern requirements and possibilities." The griot's position in society, most relevant to modern day music, are those who use their song and dance as a new kind of occupation while still practicing the traditional legacies of past griots. These individuals are still highly respected for their responsibilities, and have also become incorporated in popular music culture.
|
|
In the Mali Empire, an evident example of oral history is the Sunjata Keita or Sundiata Keita story. The Sunjata Keita story remains a strong representation of oral history. Because there are a plethora of versions of the Sunjata story, this exemplifies how oral history can change slightly depending on the griot reciting the history. Also, oral history can be traced back to Sunjata because in the story Sunjata’s griots play a major part to his success. Bamba Suso in his version of Sunjata writes: Suso’s story of Sunjata shows how griots often remain within the family lineage. When Sunjata’s father died, like other parts of his father’s estate, Sunjata was able to choose griots from his father’s estate as well.
|
|
In the ancient African oral tradition of the Epic of Sundjata, Balla Fasséké is Sundiata Keita's griot. King Naré Maghann Konaté offered his son Sundiata a griot, Balla Fasséké, to advise him in his reign. He would go on to serve as the ancestor of the Kouyate dynasty of Malinke griots. Griots were the "present each king gives his successor", they were the aristocratic oral historians that attended kings, recording and recalling the legacies of kings and kingdoms.
|
|
The griots belong to specific families and almost form a musical caste within Mauritanian society. T’heydinn poems have also been composed by poets not belonging to such families. Griots hand down their knowledge from father to son. The father or a qualified relative initiates the young griot into playing musical instruments and later into the arts of music and poetry, culminating in his initiation into the art of the T’heydinn through recitation and mastery of the family’s own heritage.
|
|
Mali Dogon Dance Malian musical traditions are derived from the griots, who are known as "Keepers of Memories".Crabill, Michelle and Tiso, Bruce (January 2003). Mali Resource Website. Fairfax County Public Schools.
|
|
Their second album, Innercity Griots, has been described as "an acknowledged underground masterpiece". Peace released his first solo album, Southern Fry'd Chicken, in 2000. His second solo album, Megabite, was released in 2004.
|
|
Foday Musa Suso on 2017 Foday Musa Suso (born in Sarre Hamadi Village, Wuli District, in the Upper River Division of the eastern Gambia) is a Gambian musician and composer. He is a member of the Mandinka ethnic group, and is a griot. Griots are the oral historians and musicians of the Mandingo people who live in several west African nations. Griots are a living library for the community providing history, entertainment, and wisdom while playing and singing their songs.
|
|
He was born in Mali into a family of griots, who traditionally played music to the kings of the Malian Empire in their royal court. He started to learn the Kora as a child.
|
|
The tidinet is a type of string instrument from Mauritania and other regions in North Africa. It is most often only played by men. The tidinet resembles a small guitar and is used by griots.
|
|
Noura Mint Seymali playing the ardin. The ardin is a type of harp played in Mauritania. It has a resonating body made of calabash, with 10 to 16 strings, and is played by female griots.
|
|
90% are Muslims and most of the remainder Christians. Griots, also known as jelis, hereditary praise-singers, a legacy of the Mande Empire, are common throughout the region. Gambian griots, as elsewhere, often play the kora, a 21 string harp. The region of Brikama has produced some famous musicians, including Foday Musa Suso, who founded the Mandingo Griot Society in New York City in the 1970s, bringing Mande music to the New York avant- garde scene and collaborating with Bill Laswell, Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet.
|
|
Keita sings "Sina" for his father who never wanted him to become a singer. Traditionally the caste of griots sing, not a Keita does who belongs to the caste of princes, a descendant of Sundiata Keita.
|
|
Griots have existed "since time immemorial," or as long as "Kouyates have been in the service of the Keita princes of Mali."D. T. Niane, Sundiata: An Epic of old Mali (China: Pearson Longman, 2006) 1-4.
|
|
Mandinka Griot Al-Haji Papa Susso performing songs from the oral tradition of the Gambia on the kora baobab tree in the Réserve de Bandia, Sénégal, forms a living mausoleum for the remains of famed local griots.
|
|
Wolof musicians were traditionally drawn from the griots (géwél), or of the blacksmith caste (tëgg), who were masters of drumming. Griots taught history, ethics and religion using their songs and recitations, and were employed by powerful members of the community as praise-singers and historians. Today many modern Wolof musicians still come from Griot families. After the 19th century conversion of major Wolof kingdoms to Islam, the tagg, or ode song in Wolof, was reused in an Islamic Nasheed tradition--an important integration of pre-Islamic style into the new Muslim paradigm.
|
|
Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (Fula people, Mali), 1890 The Mali Empire (Malinke Empire), at its height in the middle of the 14th century, extended from central Africa (today's Chad and Niger) to West Africa (today's Mali and Senegal). The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita, whose exploits remain celebrated in Mali today. In the Epic of Sundiata, Naré Maghann Konaté offered his son Sundiata Keita a griot, Balla Fasséké, to advise him in his reign. Balla Fasséké is considered the founder of the Kouyaté line of griots that exists to this day.
|
|
Some, however, remained independent and charged a fee for their services at both solemn (funeral rituals) and festive occasions (births, marriage ceremonies and circumcision rites). Griots tend to be categorised as either waxkats (mediators or spokesperson for a noble; or “a person who speaks”) or woykats (“someone who sings”). A griot’s training often involves an apprenticeship with an older man (ie. father or uncle, as griots usually belong to a familial heritage), whereby the apprentice masters a repertoire of stories and songs as well as a specific instrument to accompany them.
|
|
Conrad, David C. (1995). Status and Identity in West Africa: Nyamakalaw of Mande. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, p. 29. Conrad then goes on to describe how griots "openly criticize nobles in public as well as in private".
|
|
Virtually all scholars now agree that Africa has a "history". Despite controversies over historical accuracy in oral records, as in Alex Haley's Roots book and popular TV mini-series, African griots, or oral memoirists, provided a historical oral record.
|
|
In the early 1960s Senegal became an autonomous republic within the French community. Hence forward, the estate went through several forms of political oppression and reconstruction until finally Abdoulaye Wade was elected president in March 2000 and the Senegalese Democratic Party had finally won, bringing peace and improvement to the land. "The development of modern music dates back to the musical traditions established by 'griots' in the days of the Mali-Songhay empires." It can be noted that the first form of musical expression made in Senegal date back to the 14th century in the forms of griots.
|
|
The Djeli, a caste of courtly praise-singers in Burkina Faso, function like the griots elsewhere in West Africa: at each ruler's funeral they recite the names and histories of past rulers, they intervene in people's personal affairs and perform at social gatherings. The Mossi and their griots retain ancient royal courts and courtly music. The kora, the stringed instrument of the djeli, has been popular throughout much of West Africa since the Malian empire of the 1240s. The instrument traditionally featured seven strings until the Gambian griot Madi Woulendi increased that number to twenty-one.
|
|
Today, most griots are old and they seldom perform even as their numbers are falling. Also these recitations no longer produce an adequate income and many young griots no longer take up the T’heydinn as a career. In recent years some griot organizations have been formed with the aim of imparting the T'heydinn to the younger generation and the Mauritanian Institute of Music has taken up the task of disseminating the art. Purists also point to how the original musical form of the T'heydinn, the faghu, is increasingly being replaced by lighter musical forms such as the liyyinn, destroying its original musical basis.
|
|
The story of Sunjata, the founder of the Mali Empire, is a tremendously important aspect of Mande culture and provides not only historical information, but cultural information as well. Traditionally told through Griots, Sunjata contains many examples of fadenya, badenya, and their interactions.
|
|
Although the Mandé arrived in many of their present locations as raiders or traders, they gradually adapted to their regions. In the 21st century, most work either as settled agriculturalists or nomadic fishermen. Some are skilled as blacksmiths, cattle herders, and griots or bards.
|
|
2006 During the ceremony of his ashes' return, this relationship was retold by some griots: According to those reports, Kissi Kaba was descended from Mansa Dankaran Touman, the first son of faama Naré Maghann Konaté. Dankaran Touman was the older brother of Sundiata Keita.
|
|
After releasing Innercity Griots in 1993, Freestyle Fellowship went on hiatus due to the incarceration of Self Jupiter. In 1998, the group reunited and recorded Shockadoom, which was mostly produced by Omid. It was released in 2002, a year after the release of Temptations.
|
|
Griots were employed by every important family as chroniclers and advisors, without whom much of early Jolof history would be unknown. Jolof's nobility were nominally animists, but some combined this with Islam. However, Islam had not dominated Wolof society until about the 19th century.
|
|
Born to a Serer family, Fama's controversial play Mbilem ou le baobab du lion denounces Serer tradition and received great criticism from the Serer traditionalists of Senegal. The Mbilim (variation : Bilim) is a religious festival in the Serer calendar, celebrated once a year and is equivalent to the new year. In pre-colonial times, right until recently, some Serer griots were buried in the trunks of a baobab tree rather than buried in a pyramid tomb with all the regalia dictated by Serer religion. Tomb burial and mummification were always given to the Serer nobility, but some Serer griots were not buried this way.
|
|
Praise singers, bards sometimes known as "griots", tell their stories with music."African literature" at info-please. Also recited, often sung, are love songs, work songs, children's songs, along with epigrams, proverbs and riddles. These oral traditions exist in many languages including Fula, Swahili, Hausa, and Wolof.
|
|
The best known traditional Mandé music is played on the kora, a stringed instrument with 21 or more strings. It is performed by families of musicians known as Jeliw (sing. Jeli), or in French as griots. The kora is a unique harp-lute with a notched wooden bridge.
|
|
"What writing about Chuck Ealey's career taught his daughter about black heritage". TVOntario, July 6, 2016. She has also written the theatrical play my upside down black face, which was excerpted in T-Dot Griots: An Anthology of Toronto's Black Storytellers."Jael Richardson and the Industry-Changing FOLD". Room.
|
|
Toasting, chatting (rap in other parts of the Anglo Caribbean), or deejaying is the act of talking or chanting, usually in a monotone melody, over a rhythm or beat by a deejay. Traditionally, the method of toasting originated from the griots of Caribbean calypso and mento traditions. The lyrics can either be improvised or pre- written. Toasting has been used in various African traditions, such as griots chanting over a drum beat, as well as in the United States and Jamaican music forms, such as ska, reggae, dancehall, and dub; it also exists in grime and hip hop coming out of the United Kingdom, which typically has a lot of Caribbean influence.
|
|
Malian musical duo Amadou et Mariam are known internationally for their music, combining Malian and international influences. Malian musical traditions are often derived from Mande griots or jalis, a family-based caste of performing poets. While today, griots are often seen as praise singers at local weddings or civic events, where historically they served as court historians, advisors, and diplomats. The music of Mali is best known outside of Africa for the kora virtuosos Toumani Diabaté and Ballaké Sissoko, the late roots and blues guitarist Ali Farka Touré, and his successors Afel Bocoum and Vieux Farka Touré, the Tuareg band Tinariwen, and several Afro-pop artists such as Salif Keita, the duo Amadou et Mariam, and Oumou Sangaré.
|
|
In the 1960s, scholars and writers began to seriously examine the traditional music of West Africa in their search for the roots of the blues, jazz, and the other music forms that had emerged in the African diaspora. However, in this quest there was very little study and documentation of West African stringed instruments done other than in the overall context of general musical and cultural traditions. For the most part, the only stringed instruments to receive specific attention were those of the griots, such as their plucked lutes (e.g. the Mande ngoni, the Wolof xalam, the Fula hoddu, the Soninke gambare, and the kora (the 21-string harp-lute of the Mandinka griots).
|
|
Thiaw, Issa laye, "Mythe de la création du monde selon les sages sereer", pp. 45−50, 59−61 [in] "Enracinement et Ouverture" – "Plaidoyer pour le dialogue interreligieux", Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (23 and 24 June 2009), Dakar (Retrieved: 25 May 2012)Some Serer griots were once buried inside an open baobab tree with grave goods. This culture sparked criticism from the Serer playwright Fama Diagne Sène which attracted great controversy among the Serer priestly class (the Saltigues). Although Serer religion dictates that every Serer is entitled to a pyramid burial with grave goods, pyramid burial was reserved primarily for the upper echelons of Serer society (see Serer religion). Some Serer griots weren’t given a pyramid burial.
|
|
It is arguably the most complex chordophone of Africa. The N'goni is the ancestor of the modern banjo, and is also played by jelis. Griots are professional bards in northern West Africa, keepers of their great oral epic traditions and history. They are trusted and powerful advisors of Mandé leaders.
|
|
The traditional griots are songs of praise, but Malouma used her voice to speak out against child marriages, racial and ethnic discrimination, slavery and other divisive issues facing a country at the crossroads of the Arab world and Africa. She also sang about illiteracy, HIV/AIDS awareness and in support of children's vaccinations.
|
|
A drawing of Griots. Circa 1230s-1600s, the Mali Empire was created in Western Africa along the Niger River. Often associated with being founded by Sunjata Keita, the history of Mali is extremely based on oral history. The story of the founder of Mali, Sunjata Keita, is largely based on oral history.
|
|
Likewise, the repetitive nature of oral history transforms messages and creates similar yet slightly different versions of historical events. Jansen describes “slowing down negotiations” as essential to appease both sides of conflicting parties.Jansen, p. 45. Jansen’s presentation of griots in modern Mali as messengers depicts the transformation of oral historians over time.
|
|
Kouyaté was born in 1961 in Bobo-Dioulasso. He is the son of one of the first Burkinabé actors, Sotigui Kouyaté, and is a member of the Mandeng ethnic group. Kouyatés have served as griots for the Keita dynasty since the 13th century. The Kouyatés guard customs, and their knowledge is authoritative amongst Mandengs.
|
|
Sotigui Kouyaté (19 July 1936 – 17 April 2010)www.africansuccess.org was one of the first Burkinabé actors. He was the father of film director Dani Kouyaté and was a member of the Mandinka ethnic group. Members of Kouyaté's lineage or clan have served as griots for the Keita dynasty since at least the 13th century.
|
|
The African filmmaker is often compared to the traditional griot. Like griots, filmmakers' task is to express and reflect communal experiences. Patterns of African oral literature often recur in African films. African film has also been influenced by traditions from other continents, such as Italian neorealism, Brazilian Cinema Novo and the theatre of Bertolt Brecht.
|
|
This oral literature is mainly tradited by the griots (Jeliw in Bambara) who are a mixture of storytellers, praise singers, and human history books who have studied the trade of singing and reciting for many years. Many of their songs are very old and are said to date back to the old empire of Mali.
|
|
The "chantwell" is another incarnation of the African "griot" tradition. On the Caribbean plantations African griots became chantwells, preserving the tribe’s history and traditions orally. They would sing to contemporary and mythical heroes and to the Gods. They would also preserve the complex oral traditions of West Africa with songs of derision, praise, satire, and lament.
|
|
New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. 224-49. Print.For the Njuup tradition, see: The Culture Trip The Njuup was also progenitor of Tassu, used when chanting ancient religious verses. The griots of Senegambia still use it at marriages, naming ceremonies or when singing the praises of patrons. Most Senegalese and Gambian artists use it in their songs.
|
|
However, the surrealist influence on Haitian literature remained small, though real. It is, for example, openly claimed by Clément Magloire-Saint-Aude, collaborator of Griots. The réalisme merveilleux of René Depestre and Jacques Stephen Alexis in the 1950s would be much more fruitful. Contemporary Haitian literature is part of the Francophone literature as well as the Latin American culture.
|
|
But they are also influenced by the other instruments of the region such as the beautiful West African harp, the kora, and the balafon. Entertainment is the role of certain casts. The performance of music is the realm of specialized casts. The Griots or Awlube recite the history of the people, places and events of the community.
|
|
At present, the ahardin, an instrument whose manufacture is easily improvised, is considered above all as a game of girls. Tahardant, feminine of ahardin, is also the name of a plucked string instrument, a kind of guitar played throughout the region of the Niger River loop, by "court craftsmen" in the Tuaregs and by griots in the Songhai.
|
|
That allowed several griots to present their versions. After the event, Doumbi Fakoly wrote a book that attempted to unify the many disparate versions of the legend. The Mali Sadio story is also common to the Mamprussi and Dagomba people of northern Ghana, although is taken from the viewpoint of the one they claimed killed him, a local hunter called Tohadzie.
|
|
The land of the Manding (or Mandé) is located in this area. It is the cradle of the Empire of Mali and known for preserving its traditional culture with its griots and its hunters. Like much of Mali, the area is strongly Islamized, but the practices of animists remain very present in the villages. Bambara serves as the area's most common language.
|
|
In addition to being singers and social commentators, griots are often skilled instrumentalists. Their instruments include the kora, the khalam (or xalam), the goje (or n'ko in the Mandinka language), the balafon, and the ngoni. The kora is a long-necked lute-like instrument with 21 strings. The xalam is a variation of the kora, and usually consists of fewer than five strings.
|
|
Volume 10 was featured on Freestyle Fellowship's 1993 album Innercity Griots. Volume 10's debut solo single "Pistolgrip-Pump" was released in 1993 to critical acclaim despite being edited for radio and referred to simply as "Pump" in 1994. The single was later recorded by Rage Against the Machine for their album Renegades. He released his first album Hip-Hopera in 1994.
|
|
Oral history may be defined as the preservation and interpretation of historical, cultural or personal experiences by way of a speaker. In Mali, such a speaker can be described as a poet, a storyteller, a praise singer or a musician. A large amount of Mali’s history is transferred via oral historians. Such oral historians in Mali are known as griots, Jalis, and Jelis.
|
|
The T’heydinn acts to strengthen social ties between griots and their communities and between the various communities themselves. It extols values such as honour, courage, generosity, honesty, endurance, magnanimity, rectitude and justice. It provides an opportunity for regional tribal and family reunions and promotes a culture of social peace and mutual assistance among communities based on the values it preaches.
|
|
Each aristocratic family of griots accompanied a higher-ranked family of warrior- kings or emperors, called jatigi. In traditional culture, no griot can be without a jatigi, and no jatigi can be without a griot. However, the jatigi can loan his griot to another jatigi. Most villages also had their own griot, who told tales of births, deaths, marriages, battles, hunts, affairs, and many other things.
|
|
Zou was born into a Griot family in Mali. Griots are seen as important people able to sing for people and the king, able to tell stories and know everything about family relationships. Zou was known for being a virtuoso on guitar, kora and ngoni and also played balafon, djembe and saxophone. As a composer he created jazz, Rhythm and blues and Salsa music music.
|
|
Sidiki Diabaté is a Malian kora player, musician and music producer born in 1992 in Bamako, Mali. He is the son of renowned kora player Toumani Diabaté and grandson of Sidiki Diabaté. Diabaté belongs to the 77th generation of musicians in a long family tradition of griots, his family being primarily kora players. His grandfather Sidiki Diabaté recorded the first ever kora album in 1970.
|
|
Steven Green and Karen Richardson, T Dot Griots: An Anthology of Toronto's Black Storytellers. Trafford Publishing, 2004. . p. 52. Fallico also produced material for other artists, including "Situation 9" on Choclair's album Ice Cold, "When I Rhyme" on Maestro Fresh Wes's album Ever Since,"Maestro working on some new rap tricks: Frankenstein suggests toning down volume on his raps". Edmonton Journal, January 24, 2001.
|
|
According to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Fulani people have held on to "a strict caste system". There are the Fulani proper, also referred to as the Fulɓe, including the Pullo (also called the Rimɓe (singular)) and the Dimo, meaning "noble". There is the artisan caste, including blacksmiths, potters, griots, genealogists, woodworkers, and dressmakers. They belong to castes but are free people.
|
|
Throughout Western Africa and Africa as a continent, oral historians act as mediators between conflicting parties. Oral historians are often essential to solve certain problems. Jansen’s work provides a detailed account of other skills that oral historians / griots need in modern-day Mali. Jansen describes a griot’s skills as a means to “master and manipulate the processes of ‘heating’ and ‘cooling down’ social situations”.
|
|
From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots is the second album by Dälek, released in 2002. The instrumentation of the album includes vocals and turntables as well as guitar, both electric and acoustic, drums, bass, and keyboards provided by various musical artists. Pitchfork Media ranked it the 49th-best record of 2002. The Italian magazine Blow Up also rated it the 9th best album of 2002.
|
|
Mamadou Sidiki Diabaté, widely known as "Madou," was born on September 23, 1982 in Bamako, Mali. He is a Muslim and he's the youngest son of the late Sidiki Diabaté and Mariam Kouyaté. He is part of the seventy-first generation of kora players in his family. His family has a long heritage in the oral tradition of jalis (sometimes spelled djeli), or griots.
|
|
He died in May 2020, but his death was only made public that September. Daily News colleagues praising Saunders's journalism include Doug MacKay and Bill Turpin. Authors remembering him as an inspiration or mentor include Troy Wiggins, publisher of FIYAH, Milton Davis, operator of MVmedia and co-editor with Saunders of Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology, Taaq Kirksey, developer of a television project based on Imaro.
|
|
Mandingo culture is rich in tradition, music, and spiritual ritual. Mandingo continue a long oral history tradition through griots, who tell stories, songs and proverbs. This passing down of oral history through music has made music one of the most distinctive traits of the Mandinka. In rural areas, western education's impact is minimal; the literacy rate in Latin script among these Mandinka is quite low.
|
|
Drawing from several musical influences, such as their backgrounds in church choirs, growing up with R&B; and being exposed to Jazz and the Motown sound as children, Louis York describes their music as "world music" in the sense that it is multi-genre and has an international sound.Gardner, John. "Louis York: American Griots, Weirdo Workshop Founders, and Multi - GRAMMY Nominated Musicians." The World Music Foundation Podcast.
|
|
Toto Bissainthe studied acting in France where she founded The Griots with Roger Blain. This was the first black theatre company in France. Some of the plays titled in French included Papa bon Dieux, Les negres, Negres, negres, L’ombre de la ravine, and L’invite de Pierre, among others. She also had some roles in film, including Les tripes au soleil and En l’autre bord .
|
|
According to certain versions, it was killed by a local who, having fallen in love with the young lady, became jealous of the friendship. According to other versions, it is a French colonist called Cauchon who killed the animal. This legend is told and sung by griots and has been recorded by several Malian musicians. In 2005, the Dansa-Diawoura Festival ended with a day dedicated to the legend.
|
|
While in high school in the late 1980s, Aceyalone, Myka 9, and Self Jupiter formed the short-lived MC Aces, a precursor to Freestyle Fellowship, at the Good Life Cafe in Los Angeles, California. Subsequently, former high school friend P.E.A.C.E. was added to form Freestyle Fellowship. Freestyle Fellowship released the debut studio album, To Whom It May Concern..., in 1991. In 1993, the group released the second studio album, Innercity Griots.
|
|
Similarly, the Wolof in Senegal is divided into three main groups, the geer (freeborn/nobles), jaam (slaves and slave descendants) and the underclass neeno. In various parts of West Africa, Fulani societies also have class divisions. Other castes include Griots, Forgerons, and Cordonniers. Tamari has described endogamous castes of over fifteen West African peoples, including the Tukulor, Songhay, Dogon, Senufo, Minianka, Moors, Manding, Soninke, Wolof, Serer, Fulani, and Tuareg.
|
|
Born in the culturally rich town of Kita, west of the Malian capital, Bamako, Djelimady grew up surrounded with traditional music played by members of his family, griots, musicians and historians by birth. Djelimady played djembe drum and ngoni, a banjo-like lute, as a boy. When he moved to Mali's capital, Bamako, during the 1960s, he had actually planned to work as a tailor. But music proved a stronger calling.
|
|
They are also farmers and artisans, they descend from pre- existing populations. They are still represented by "chiefs of land", the most notable of which, The Ministers and the Sinadunwiru, hold high office. They are members of the Council of Ministers and the second is called to the regency at the death of the King. The griots, severals horsemen, blacksmiths, musicians and others Baribas take part integrally of this caste.
|
|
In 1988 Jegede became fascinated with jazz and worked and toured with ex-members of the Jazz Warriors founded by Courtney Pine and Cleveland Watkiss. Jegede formed his own jazz ensemble, The Jazz Griots, with the purpose of exploring the connections between African and African diasporic forms of music. In 1991, he pioneered African Classical music in the UK"Tunde Jegede (b. 1972), Composer of Nigerian Descent", Africlassical, 18 October 2007.
|
|
Specially sanctioned messengers have been recognized in Vietnamese culture, among the Khasi people in India, and in the Fox and Winnebago cultures of the American midwest. The Zulu Kingdom used runners to quickly disseminate news. In West Africa, news can be spread by griots. In most cases, the official spreaders of news have been closely aligned with holders of political power.Stephens, History of News (1988), p. 27–30.
|
|
Up until that point, the conventional wisdom was that the wooden- bodied plucked lutes exclusive to the West African griots, such as the Mande ngoni and the Wolof xalam, were the archetypes for the earliest forms of the banjo, first made and played by enslaved West Africans in the New World, from the 17th century on. Jatta's proposition that gourd-bodied non-griot folk and artisan lutes - like the Jola akonting (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau), the Manjago buchundu (Gambia, Guinea-Bissau), the Gwari kaburu (Nigeria), and the Frafra koliko (Ghana), to name but a few - were the more likely candidates was revolutionary. Since then, many museums around the world have updated their collections to include the akonting and other members of the West African folk/artisan lute family, while banjo historians and ethnomusicologists have begun to broaden the range of their focus to include these instruments as well those used by griots.
|
|
In the tradition of the griots, the history of many of the ethnic groups is told through the medium of drum and dance performance. African-styled performing arts has transmitted traditional values, actual histories, and the spiritual energy of the African people for centuries. The fifteen-member ensemble includes seven master drummers, chosen among the best soloists of Guinea's national companies, as well as members playing flute, balafon, kora, and traditional dancers.
|
|
Ndaté Yalla Mbodj, is regarded as a heroine in Senegambian history, and one of the most famous women of 19th century Senegambia. Along with several other African heroines, She played a crucial role in the struggle for African liberation. Oral historians (also known as griots) have recorded her bravery, and she remains a symbol of female empowerment. During her life and afterwards, Ndaté Yalla was a symbol of resistance against French colonialism.
|
|
Sekouba "Bambino" is the stage name of Sekouba Diabaté, a singer and musician born in Guinea, West Africa, in 1964.Sekouba Bambino Official Page. Biography Bambino was born and raised in the village of Kintinya, some 25 kilometers from the town of Siguiri, close to the border with Mali. He was born into a musical family, and is descended from a long line of griots, known in some Mande languages as jeli.
|
|
Dagomba are one of the ethnic groups with a sophisticated oral tradition woven around drums and other musical instruments. Thus, most of their history, until quite recently, has been passed down via oral tradition with drummers as professional griots. According to oral tradition, the political history of Dagbon has its origin in the life story of a legend called Tohazie (translated as "red hunter").St.John Parsons, D. 1968, Legends of Northern Ghana.
|
|
The Diabaté family has produced 72 generations of kora players and jalis, the Malian counterpart of griots, or West African historians. A jali transmits the ancient oral history of western Africa through poetry and praise songs, and, like the Diabaté family, they are often also musicians. Madou's father, the late Sidiki Diabaté, is widely known as "The King of Kora." Sidiki was originally from The Gambia, where much of griot culture is said to originate.
|
|
In 2002, he covered Boby Lapointe's "L'Été ou est-il?" with Thallia on the album Boby Tutti-Frutti – L'hommage délicieux à Boby Lapointe by Lilicub. In 2003, he made a CD with Senegalese griots of the Kalone Orchestra of Casamance. Vassiliu lived a part of his life in the Casamance, the region of Senegal lying to the south of the Gambia. He died in his sleep in 2014, after years of battling Parkinson's.
|
|
The Portuguese arrived in the Jolof Empire between 1444 and 1510, leaving detailed accounts of a very advanced political system. There was a developed hierarchical system involving different classes of royal and non-royal nobles, free men, occupational castes, and slaves. Occupational castes included blacksmiths, jewelers, tanners, tailors, musicians, and griots. Smiths were important to the society for their ability to make weapons of war as well as their trusted status for mediating disputes fairly.
|
|
The title of the album alludes to the griots of West Africa who are storytellers, poets and songwriters who travel from village to village performing and passing on oral traditions. With the addition of "American", the duo hoped to modernize and personalize the role of the griot. Through the album's title, Louis York attempt to communicate how they see themselves and give artists a renewed sense of responsibility as touring performers.Gardner, John.
|
|
Each caste reveres its own guardian spirit. Some scholars such as John Shoup list these strata in three categories: free (chiefs, farmers and herders), servile (artists, musicians and griots), and the slave class. The servile group were socially required to be endogamous, while the slaves could be emancipated over four generations. The highest social level, states Shoup, claim to have descended from king "Sonni 'Ali Ber" and their modern era hereditary occupation has been Sohance (sorcerer).
|
|
Bassekou Kouyate performing on a jeli ngoni The Ngoni or "n'goni" is a string instrument, traditional guitar of Mali. Its body is made of wood or calabash with dried animal (often goat) skin head stretched over it. The ngoni, which can produce fast melodies, appears to be closely related to the akonting and the xalam. This is called a jeli ngoni as it is played by griots at celebrations and special occasions in traditional songs called fasas in Mandingo.
|
|
Additionally Wealth in People is also connected to Wealth in Knowledge. Wealth in Knowledge and Wealth in People are closely related; they both focus on the number of people or things that a person knows as a marker of his or her power in African society. This emphasis of knowledge could also be related to the heavy presence of oral history in African society. The griots were African oral historians and were highly ranked in society.
|
|
Aya Nakamura Danioko (; born 10 May 1995), known by her stage name Aya Nakamura (, ), is a Malian-born French pop singer. She is best known for her hit song "Djadja" that has more than 660 million views on YouTube. She was born in Bamako and immigrated to France with her family, growing up in Aulnay- sous-Bois. Coming from a family of griots (West African storytellers, praise singers / poets of oral tradition), she is the oldest of five siblings.
|
|
The importance of the mother is underscored by the narrator, who says "the child is worth no more than the mother is worth."Niane 1965, p. 22. Significantly, Sundiata needed both the opposing forces of fadenya and badenya to fulfill his destiny, indicating that both elements are necessary to Mande culture . The epic of Sundiata is still an integral part of Mande traditional culture and the story continues to be retold by griots and through masked ritual performances.
|
|
Each caste reveres its own guardian spirit. Some scholars such as John Shoup list these strata in three categories: free (chiefs, farmers and herders), servile (artists, musicians and griots), and the slave class. The servile group were socially required to be endogamous, while the slaves could be emancipated over four generations. The highest social level, states Shoup, claim to have descended from king "Sonni 'Ali Ber" and their modern era hereditary occupation has been Sohance (sorcerer).
|
|
Although, they could be included in performances of the griots. In ancient Greece, the spoken word was the most trusted repository for the best of their thought, and inducements would be offered to men (such as the rhapsodes) who set themselves the task of developing minds capable of retaining and voices capable of communicating the treasures of their culture. The Ancient Greeks included Greek lyric, which is similar to spoken-word poetry, in their Olympic Games.
|
|
Each caste reveres its own guardian spirit. Some scholars such as John Shoup list these strata in three categories: free (chiefs, farmers and herders), servile (artists, musicians and griots), and the slave class. The servile group were socially required to be endogamous, while the slaves could be emancipated over four generations. The highest social level, states Shoup, claim to have descended from King Sonni 'Ali Ber and their modern era hereditary occupation has been Sohance (sorcerer).
|
|
However, some of Sundiata's successors were Muslim, with Mansa Musa Keita being one of the most widely known.Stride, G. T., & Caroline Ifeka, Peoples and Empires of West Africa: West Africa in history, 1000-1800, Africana Pub. Corp., 1971, pp. 51-53. Some Muslim griots later added to the epic of Sundiata by claiming that Sundiata has "an ancestral origin among the companions of Muhammad in Mecca" (namely, Bilal Ibn Rabah)D.T. Niane, Soundjata ou L’Épopée Mandigue, Paris 1961, p.
|
|
Another drum, the Bara Kaaru, which is still kept in a small temple on the Baro Kpira farm in the Banikuara region, is played by the Bara Yogo who is a member of the ancient family of griots. Like spurs, trumpets were introduced to the Baatonu country by the Wasangari under the influence of the Hausa of Nigeria. The instrument, unknown to the Baatonu natives, originates from India and was introduced to Africa by caravan travellers.
|
|
14th century Arab historian Shihab al-Umari reported the village as Nyeni (Niani), saying it is "the official name of Mali ... because it is the capital of the regions of this kingdom." Griots still exist in Niani today, preserving the history of the Mali Empire. Couriers left imperial Niani daily on horseback, and those who arrived from the provinces reported to the griot. Many Berber Arabs settled in Niani as a result of trans-Saharan trade.
|
|
In his younger years, as is often the case, Fasiya was dominant. But given Diabaté’s evaluation of contemporaneous griots, it is no surprise that he sought distinction by abandoning the oral tradition, and temporarily his homeland. Fadenya is, however, ultimately positive, as competition is a creative force. When he returned to Mali, drawn back by his commitment to the community and country that raised him, his Fasiya, that which he created was incorporated into the tradition.
|
|
With time, each of these strata became endogamous, states Daniel Littlefield, a professor of history. Above the slaves were the castes of Soninke, which too were hereditary, endogamous, and had an embedded hierarchical status. They included, for example, the garanke (leather workers) below the fune (bard), the fune below the gesere or jeli (griots, singers), and the jeli below the tage or numu (smiths, pottery workers). The castes and serf system can be linked to the Mandé 'Nyamakalaw' (literally'caste').
|
|
This council has traditionally included: the baloum naba, head of the king's servants; the gounga naba, leader of the infantry; the larale naba, keeper of the royal tombs; the kamsaogo naba, manager of the palace eunuchs; and the widi naba, the royal groom. The list of the Moro Naba of Ouagadougou, as well as the time of reign, is recited every morning at the arrival of the Moro Naba and is known by the Bend Naba and the griots of the court.
|
|
Originally known as Microphone Mike in the 1980s, Myka 9 was a member of the MC Aces with Aceyalone and Spoon Iodine. He stated that he ghost-wrote two tracks on N.W.A.'s debut album N.W.A. and the Posse in 1987. As a co-founder of Freestyle Fellowship, he was instrumental in the scene at the Good Life Cafe in the early 1990s. Released in 1993, Freestyle Fellowship's second album Innercity Griots is one of the landmarks of Los Angeles hip hop.
|
|
Dancers began using moves associated with the sabar, and tipping the singers as if they were traditional griots. Among the bands that played this new style, Etoile de Dakar (starring Youssou N'Dour and El Hadji Faye), and Raam Daan (starring Thione Seck), Xalam II, and Super Diamono. Since becoming popular, both Mbalax and its associated dance have spread to other regions such as Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and France. This dissemination has come about through radio, audio cassettes and televised video clips.
|
|
Its origins can be traced to the time of the Mali empire and linked with Jali Mady Fouling Diabate, son of Bamba Diabate. According to the griots, Mady visited a local lake in which he was informed that a genie who granted wishes had resided. Upon meeting him, Mady requested that the genie make him a brand new instrument that no griot had ever owned. The genie accepted, but only under the condition that Mady release his sister into his custody.
|
|
The late Serer Diva Yandé Codou Sène who was the griot of the late and former president of Senegal (Leopold Sedar Senghor) was proficient in the "Tassu". She was the best Tassukat (one who Tassu) of her generation. Originally religious in nature, the griots of Senegambia regardless of ethnic group or religion picked it up from Serer religious practices and still use it in different occasions e.g. marriages, naming ceremonies or when they are just singing the praises of their patrons.
|
|
Perhaps the most compelling African instrument that is a predecessor to an African-American instrument is the "Akonting", a folk lute of the Jola tribe of Senegambia. It is a clear predecessor to the American banjo in its playing style, the construction of the instrument itself and in its social role as a folk instrument. The Kora is played by a professional caste of praise singers for the rich and aristocracy (called griots or jalis) and is not considered folk music.
|
|
Prior to colonisation, written literature was virtually absent in Burkina Faso, like much of Africa. The oral tradition has always been important to the many ethnic groups, sustaining the cultural diversity of the country. Culture has been transmitted orally through music and dance. This has been described by Titinga Frédéric Pacéré in his 1992 book Le langage des tam-tams et des masques Afrique, emphasising the importance in many of Burkina Faso's ethnic groups of griots, and the older members of the communities.
|
|
His formal musical education continued when he enrolled in the classical conservatory of the State University of New York where he researched the relationship between rhythm, culture and perception. He graduated in 1992 with his thesis, Rhythm In Culture, given a special merit award. While at the university he formed his own group, Zulife, and backed regular CBGB’s headliners Being Don And Nothingness. He has analogised the purpose of his songs as similar to that of ‘minstrels in medieval Europe, or the griots of West Africa’.
|
|
He released his debut solo album in 1993, You Can be a Daddy, But Never Daddy-O, on Island/PolyGram Records.[ You Can Be a Daddy, But Never Daddy-O overview], AllMusic In 1993, Daddy-O produced and appeared on the track "Inner City Boundaries", off of Freestyle Fellowship's 1993 album Innercity Griots. From 1994 to 1998, he was a Senior Director for MCA Records. After leaving MCA, he worked for Motown Records and various other entertainment agencies, where he helped to produce and discover talent.
|
|
Malian guitarist Habib Koité is one of Africa’s most popular and recognized musicians. Habib comes from a noble line of Khassonké griots, traditional troubadors who provide wit, wisdom and musical entertainment at social gatherings and special events. Habib grew up surrounded by seventeen brothers and sisters, and developed his unique guitar style accompanying his griot mother. He inherited his passion for music from his paternal grandfather who played the kamele n’goni, a traditional four-stringed instrument associated with hunters from the Wassolou region of Mali.
|
|
He tunes his instrument to the pentatonic scale and plays on open strings as one would on a kamale n'goni. At other times Habib plays music that sounds closer to the blue, style he studied under Khalilou Traoré a veteran of the legendary Afro-Cuban band Maravillas du Mali. Unlike the griots, his singing style is restrained and intimate with varying cadenced rhythms and melodies. Mali has rich and diverse musical traditions, which have many regional variations and styles that are particular to the local cultures.
|
|
The bowl lyre present in Uganda is played by two particular tribes, the Basoga, who name the instrument entongoli, and the Baganda, who call it the endongo. The bowl lyre can be heard at school festivals, and at weddings when playing music to lead a wedding dance. It is mainly played by men such as griots (or praise-singers), and is played either solo or to accompany songs of praise. Today, few endongos are manufactured as it is considered one of the most difficult instruments to make.
|
|
These castes included blacksmiths, weavers, jewelers, leatherworkers, carpenters, griots who kept the oral tradition through songs and music. Of these, all castes had a taboo in marrying a griot, and they could not be buried like others. Below the artisan castes in social status have been the slaves, who were either bought at slave markets, seized as captives, or born to a slave parent. The view that the jambur (or jambuur) caste were among the lower echelons of society is a matter of debate.
|
|
While the story has enchanted readers since it first appeared, it should be approached with dire caution. Frobenius attributes it to the Soninke people of West Africa, the people associated with the Empire of Wagadu or Ghana, and the name Gassire is in fact the Soninke word for a bard/singer (known as griots elsewhere in Western Africa). While many of the stories Frobenius collected can be confirmed by modern research in the oral tradition, this story stands alone and no analogue has yet been reported.
|
|
The Gravi-kora Although the gravikord is closely related to the African kora, the musical knowledge of griots and traditional kora players does not directly transfer to gravikord playing. The notes are not where they expect them to be and the bridge and hand playing positions are also different. For these musicians the gravi-kora was developed by Robert Grawi. The gravi-kora is set up tonally just like traditional koras. It has 21 strings, 11 on left hand, and 10 on right hand side.
|
|
Titinga Frédéric Pacéré at the Musée de Manega Titinga Frédéric Pacéré (born 1943) is a Burkinabé solicitor, writer, poet and griot and founder and curator of the Musée de Manega museum in Burkina Faso. He studied in Abidjan. He has written over twenty books and published 60 volumes and has been awarded the medal of honour of the Association of French speaking writers (A.D.E.L.F.).Official site of the Manega Museum He was awarded the 1982 Grand Prix Littéraire d'Afrique Noire for two of his works, Poèmes pour l'Angola (1982) and La Poésie des griots (1982).
|
|
It was also discovered that elders and griots could not give reliable genealogical lineages before the mid-19th century, with the single apparent exception of Kunta Kinte. It appears that Haley had told so many people about Kunta Kinte that he had created a case of circular reporting. Instead of independent confirmation of the Kunta Kinte story, he was actually hearing his own words repeated back to him. After Haley's book became nationally famous, American author Harold Courlander noted that the section describing Kinte's life was apparently taken from Courlander's own novel The African.
|
|
Following the breakup of the review, Brouard and other former contributors who had begun to embrace what later became known as Noirism, including François Duvalier, began holding political meetings in the home of like-minded law-student Lorimer Dennis. In 1938, Brouard served as co-director of the Noiriste quarterly paper "Les Griots" run by Duvalier and Dennis. Soon after, he converted formally to what he had for so long promoted the value of: Haitian vodou. Deeply depressed and suffering from alcoholism, Brouard left vodou and broke fully from the Noiriste movement in 1942.
|
|
The United States occupation of Haiti, which began in 1915, left a powerful impression on the young Duvalier. He was also aware of the latent political power of the poor black majority and their resentment against the tiny mulatto (black and white mixed-race) elite. Duvalier supported Pan- African ideals, and became involved in the ' movement of Haitian author , both of which led to his advocacy of Haitian Vodou, an ethnological study of which later paid enormous political dividends for him. In 1938, Duvalier co-founded the journal Les Griots.
|
|
Mandinka communities have been fairly autonomous and self-ruled, being led by a chief and group of elders. Mandinka has been an oral society, where mythologies, history and knowledge are verbally transmitted from one generation to the next. Their music and literary traditions are preserved by a caste of griots, known locally as jelis, as well as guilds and brotherhoods like the donso (hunters). Between the 16th and 19th centuries, many Muslim and non-Muslim Mandinka people, along with numerous other African ethnic groups, were captured, enslaved and shipped to the Americas.
|
|
However, more than half the adult population can read the local Arabic script (including Mandinka Ajami); small Qur'anic schools for children where this is taught are quite common. Mandinka children are given their name on the eighth day after their birth, and their children are almost always named after a very important person in their family. The Mandinka have a rich oral history that is passed down through griots. This passing down of oral history through music has made music one of the most distinctive traits of the Mandinka.
|
|
Among these were ethnologist Jean Price-Mars and the journal Les Griots (the title referred to traditional African oral historians, the storytellers.) edited by Dr. François Duvalier. The United States military issued two Haitian Campaign Medals to U.S. Marine and Naval personnel for service in the country during the periods 1915 and 1919–20. Finally, the political, military, and economic power of both the German-Haitian community and the Imperial German government were utterly broken by the long years of hostile occupation. Germans had been censured for association with anti-American mobilization.
|
|
As a result, she grew up listening to classical western works such as Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Vivaldi and Wagner, as well as the music of traditional Berber, Egyptian, Lebanese and Senegalese artists. She often accompanied her parents who sang traditional griots. Malouma began singing as a child, first performed on the stage when she was twelve and began appearing in solo concerts with a traditional repertoire by age fifteen. In addition to her father's guidance, she was inspired by other traditional artists including Oum Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Fairouz, Dimi and Sabah.
|
|
The balafon of Soumaoro Kanté is said to be kept by the Kouyate family to this day in the village of Niagassola in Guinea. Soumaoro is viewed as one of the true champions of Traditional African religion due to his reputation in the epic as someone possessing extraordinary magical powers. According to Fyle, Soumaoro was the inventor of the balafon and the dan (a four-string guitar used by the hunters and griots).Fyle, Magbaily, Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa, University Press of America (1999), p.
|
|
Tales of Amadou Koumba or Les Contes d'Amadou Koumba is a collection of tales from Senegal, transcribed by Birago Diop from the accounts of his family's griot, Amadou Koumba. It was published for the first time in 1947. This is one of the first significant attempts to put African oral literature into written form. According to Roland Colin, these tales reveal the finest art of the Wolof griots and Birago Diop makes these tales audible to the European reader and the least informed of the "Black African spirit".
|
|
Diabaté was born in the village of Kela, in Koulikoro Region. The town is famous for the griots born there, and Diabaté was from a family notable for its talents. Her grandfather, Kelabalaba, was said to be the first member of his extended family to be the official reciter of the Sundiata Epic, while her father, Bintu'amma, was well known as a musician, especially for his prowess on the ngoni. Diabaté herself was part of a younger generation, which learned from its roots but which incorporated facets of modern urban life into its performances.
|
|
Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Solomon then formed his own band, Tikisa, in 1995, and has continued to perform and tour with them. He has released the following albums: "Safari"(1996), "Rocket Express II: African Renaissance Blues"(2003), and "Mti wa Maisha (Tree of Life)"(2006) In 2007, Solomon released "Roots Rhythms (Magoma Asili)", an homage to the traditional rhythms and the Griots of the Mijikenda (Nine Tribes) people of coastal Kenya. The "Safari" album led to a double win at the TAMA (Toronto African Music Awards) for Best Release and Best New Performers in 1997.
|
|
Bako Dagnon was born in the little village of Golobladji, around 20 kilometers away from Kita in a family of griots and n'goni players. The origins of her family can be traced back to the time of Sundiata Keita. In her birth village, she learned the songs from Ségou from her grandmother and those from Guinea from her mother, while her grandfather who had fought with Samori Ture taught her battlefields songs. When her mother died when Bako Dagnon was seven years old, her father gave her in the care of the childless wife of a griot in Kita.
|
|
After many discussions and gatherings, a quarately magazine titled Les Griots was published in 1938 with the explicit aim of expanding the movement for the incorporation of local culture. The Noiristes believed that the mulatto elite were opposed to the interest of the black majority since they held and acted upon European cultural values which could not apply to Haiti. As a result, the Noiristes declared that they were unfit to govern. They also sought to ground the differences in culture in pseudo-scientific ideas of a specific African biology and psychology shared by the black diaspora.
|
|
Nevertheless, the 1946 elections resulted in the election of moderate Noiriste, Dumarsais Estimé who wasted no time putting Norisime into practice. All major political offices such as the ambassador to Washington, were headed by educated black men, as opposed to the previous mulatto elite. Francois Duvalier was appointed as Director General of the National Public Health Service. Duvalier and Denis revived Les Griots magazine to celebrate the Estime government as the realization of Noirisme in the political sphere, later publishing Le probleme des classes a travers l'historie in 1948, which is considered a landmark work in Noiriste thought.
|
|
Wolof griot, 1890 Main article: Griot Prior to the introduction of written language (Arabic and Ajami) in the greater Senegambian region, spoken word was the medium through which societies preserved their traditions and histories. Masters of this oral tradition, who belong to a specific hereditary caste within cultural hierarchies, are known as griots (guewel in Wolof or Jali in Mandinka. Griot originates from the French guiriot, a possible transliteration of the Portuguese term criado, meaning servant). In Manlinke (Mandinka), Wolof, Futa, Soninke, Bambara and Pulaar culture these storytellers are often limited to the term “praise singers”.
|
|
The tale follows a Pulaar-speaking cleric called Maalik Sii from Suyuuma, a region within the Futa Toro kingdom, located along the modern day border of Senegal and Mauritania. He and his followers, through skillful diplomacy and military strategy, expelled the Soninke- speaking Gajaaga kingdom from the region known as Bundu and granted political independence to the many Pulaar people already inhabiting the area. The story is often told in such a way that justifies the existence of the state whilst legitimising the authority of its rulers. In the contemporary age, griots have maintained their significance as traditional custodians through performance.
|
|
The social strata have included a free category called geer, a castes category called nyeenyo or neeno, and a servile category of slaves called jaam. Caste status has been hereditary, and endogamy among the men and women of a particular caste status has been an enduring feature among the Wolof people, states Leonardo Villalón – a professor of Political Science and African Studies. The Wolof's caste status, states Villalón, has been and is a greater barrier to inter-marriage than is either ethnicity or religion in Senegal. The castes have also been hierarchal, with lowest level being those of griots.
|
|
Massa Makan Diabaté, a descendant of griots, is known in the Francophone world for his work on The Epic of Sundiata as well as his "Kouta trilogy," a series of realist novels loosely based on contemporary life in his hometown of Kita. A griot is a traditional story-teller. Other well-known Malian writers include Modibo Sounkalo Keita, Maryse Condé (a native of the French Antilles, has made a career writing about the Bamabara people from whom she descends), Moussa Konaté, and Fily Dabo Sissoko. Ousmane Sembène, a Wolof Senegalese novelist, set half of his novel God's Bits of Wood in Bamako.
|
|
Massa Makan Diabaté, a descendant of griots, is known in the Francophone world for his work on The Epic of Sundiata as well as his "Kouta trilogy," a series of realist novels loosely based on contemporary life in his hometown of Kita. Other well-known Malian writers include Baba Traoré, Modibo Sounkalo Keita, Maryse Condé (a native of the French Antilles, has made a career writing about the Bamabara people from whom she descends), Moussa Konaté, and Fily Dabo Sissoko. Ousmane Sembène, a Wolof Senegalese novelist, set half of his novel God's Bits of Wood in Bamako.
|
|
The oral historians understand that their role does not merely rest on capturing and narrating history, but their role goes as far as encompassing negotiator between two different parties with distinct ideals. Oral historians in modern-day Mali provide a source of communication between such parties. Not only do oral historians chronicle history but they also create a means to communicate. Once the “negotiator” / oral historian completes his goal of mediating tensions between the different parties, the parties are able to have a “reconciliation festivity,” the griots position as both a negotiator and historian are exemplified.
|
|
Both Boulevard and Hotel Mandé are references to landmarks in Mali's capital city, Bamako. The Symmetric Orchestra, led by Diabaté, is composed of musicians (mostly griots) from across the old Mande Empire of West Africa, who play a mix of traditional instruments including the kora, djembe, balafon, and bolombatto, as well as modern ones like the guitar and electronic keyboard. Diabaté appeared in 2006 at the WOMAD Festival UK, Roskilde Festival in Denmark, and at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary. In 2007, he performed at the Glastonbury Festival and toured the U.S.A. In 2008, he was at WOMADelaide in Adelaide, Australia.
|
|
Following the Freestyle Fellowship releases of To Whom It May Concern... and Innercity Griots as well as a Project Blowed compilation in 1994, Aceyalone signed as a solo artist to Capitol Records after Island failed to break the Freestyle Fellowship on mainstream radio. Aceyalone released his breakthrough solo debut album, All Balls Don't Bounce, in 1995. He returned three years later with his second album A Book of Human Language, a collaboration with producer Mumbles, which was a dark concept album. His third solo album, Accepted Eclectic, was released in 2001, featuring Abstract Rude and production from Evidence.
|
|
The Griots was the troupe that gave the first performance of Jean Genet's play "The Blacks." She also worked with the playwright Samuel Beckett and the director Roger Blin and acted in several films. With a groundbreaking performance in 1973 at La vieille grille in Paris, Toto Bissainthe established herself as singer- songwriter-composer, stunning the audience with her soul-stirring renditions of original compositions that paid homage to the lives, struggles, miseries and spirituality of working class and rural Haitians. The singer and actress Toto Bissainthe was recognized by many as a champion of Haitian music abroad.
|
|
In response to the occupation which lasted twenty years, intellectuals began to call for a return to local Haitian culture. Individuals such Jean Price-Mars criticized the elite for their embrace of French and European cultural practices, instead of facets of local culture such as Haitian Vodou and Haitian Creole. The repudiation of Western culture and interest in the country's historical and symbolic relationship with the African continent provided the Noiristes with a great influence. Three young men who were members of the emerging black middle-class, Louis Diaquoi, Lorimer Denis, and Francois Duvalier who were students under Price-Mars formed a small group called the Griots in 1932.
|
|
All compositions by Dee Dee Bridgewater, except as noted. #"Afro Blue" (Oscar Brown, Jr., Mongo Santamaría) (5:11) #"Bad Spirits" (5:49) #"Dee Dee" (Bridgewater, Baba Sissoko) (2:57) #"Mama Don't Ever Go Away" (5:39) #"Long Time Ago" (Bridgewater, Wayne Shorter) (6:48) #"Children Go 'Round" (6:05) #"The Griots" (6:04) #"Oh My Love" (6:03) #"Four Women" (Nina Simone) (5:24) #"No More" (4:45) #"Red Earth" (5:17) #"Meanwhile" (Bridgewater, Edsel Gomez) (4:25) #"Compared to What" (Lassy "King" Massassy, Gene McDaniels) (5:21) All tracks recorded in Bamako (Mali) At Studio Bogolan except tracks 11, 12 and 13 recorded in Paris at Davout studios.
|
|
Story telling also played a significant role in education during pre-colonial Africa. Parents, other older members of households and Griots used oral story telling to teach children about the history, norms and values of their household/tribe/community. Children usually gathered around the storyteller who then narrates stories, usually, using personifications to tell stories that encourage conformity, obedience and values such as endurance, integrity, and other ethical values that are important for co-operations in the community. Festivals and rituals in most cases were also used as means to teach younger members of a household/tribe/community about the history of their household, community and or tribe.
|
|
During the 1980s and early 1990s, urban fiction in print experienced a decline. However, one could make a cogent argument that urban tales simply moved from print to music, as hip hop music exploded in popularity. Of course, for every emcee who signed a recording contract and made the airwaves, ten more amateurs plied the streets and local clubs, much like urban bards, griots or troubadours telling urban fiction in an informal, oral manner rather than in a neat, written form. One of the most famous emcees, Tupac Shakur, is sometimes called a ghetto prophet and an author of urban fiction in lyrical form.
|
|
Hourglass-shaped talking drums are some of the oldest instruments used by West African griots and their history can be traced back to the Bono people, Yoruba people, the Ghana Empire and the Hausa people. The Yoruba people of south western Nigeria and Benin and the Dagomba of northern Ghana have both developed a highly sophisticated genre of griot music centering on the talking drum . Many variants of the talking drums evolved, with most of them having the same construction mentioned above. Soon, many non-hourglass shapes showed up and were given special names, such as the Dunan, Sangban, Kenkeni, Fontomfrom and Ngoma drums.
|
|
Mah Damba (born Mah Sissoko in Bamako, Mali, 1965) is a traditional griot singer. She comes from a family of griots: her father, Djeli Baba Sissoko (not to be confused with the younger musician Baba Sissoko), was a griot and her aunt, Fanta Damba, is also considered a top vocalist. Early in her career, she was part of Kassemady Diabaté's ensemble, and later was part of Mandé Foli. She recorded two solo albums, Nyarela (Buda/Musique du Monde) in 1997 and Djelimousso, Mali: The Voice of the Mande (Trema/Sony) in 2000, as contributed three tracks to The Divas from Mali (World Network) in 1998.
|
|
And this is notwithstanding the fact that her style of singing embraces many possible elements: you can discern in it both soul music and jazz, new wave, and even African griots. Sevda was interested in trying to learn everything: both techniques of traditional "khanende" singing (lessons of legendary singer Alim Gasimov proved a help) and opera bel canto (she went for probation period to Florence, Italy in 2005 not in vain). The most important feature that has always characterized the singer's performance is a high degree of emotional contribution which cannot leave you indifferent. Sevda Alekperzade comes from a family where culture was objective and predestination of everybody.
|
|
Below these are the marabouts or clerics, then the cattle owning Fula people. Below all these are the artisan castes, which includes the blacksmiths, potters, griots,Abdoul Aziz Sow and John Angell (1993), Fulani Poetic Genres, Research in African Literatures, Indiana University Press, Vol. 24, No. 2, Special Issue on Oral Literature (Summer, 1993), pages 61-77; Quote: "At the top of the hierarchy are cattle-owning Fulani, Toorobbe (literate marabouts who hold spiritual power), Seebe (members of a warrior caste...) The middle of the hierarchy is the five castes that..." genealogists, woodworkers, and dressmakers. They belong to castes but are not enslaved and are free people.
|
|
Four generations before Mansa Suleiman who died in 1360 CE, his grandfather's grandfather (Saraq Jata) had embraced Islam. Written sources augment the Mande oral histories, with the Moroccan traveller Muhammad ibn Battúta (1304–1368) and the Tunisian historian Abu Zayd 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun al-Hadrami (1332–1406) both having travelled to Mali in the century after Sundiata's death, and providing independent verification of his existence. The semi-historical but legendary Epic of Sundiata by the Malinké/Maninka people centers on his life. The epic poem is primarily known through oral tradition, transmitted by generations of Maninka griots (djeli or jeliw).
|
|
She began to develop a regional reputation by the early 1940s, particularly for her song "Sara", about a young woman torn between the arranged marriage her parents desire and her own wish to marry for love. She also recited the Sundiata Epic; her performances of this and other songs led to interest from French ethnomusicologists, and their recordings increased her popularity even further, to the point that she was better known than most male griots, even. The socialist Malian government presented her as a figure of cultural pride, and regularly played her music on state radio. She continued to be visited by anthropologists and historians into the 1970s.
|
|
Phenderson Djèlí Clark or P. Djèlí Clark is the nom de plume of American science fiction writer and historian Dexter Gabriel;Clark, Phenderson Djèlí, at the Science Fiction Encyclopedia, by John Clute; earliest version published September 2, 2018; retrieved November 2, 2019 he chose to publish his fiction and his nonfiction under separate names so that readers of one would not be disappointed or confused by the other.Phenderson Djèlí Clark: Wonderful Things to Behold, at Locus; published October 28, 2019; retrieved November 2, 2019 He has also published under the name A. Phenderson Clark. His African sobriquet "Djélí" makes reference to the Griots, traditional Western Africa storytellers, historians and poets.
|
|
Some of what historians have written about pre-Imperial Mali is based on oral tradition collected since the late nineteenth century. Much of the tradition focuses on the "Epic of Sunjata" a series of tales about early Mali that griots assemble into longer versions. There are several of these versions in print, the most famous of which is that of D. T. Niane, thanks to its lively narrative style and early translation into other languages. Niane's work, however, is not a literal translation of an original oral discourse, though it is surely largely based on tales told by a certain Mamadou Kouyate of Keyla.
|
|
Though they were not considered "upper-class", they were given food, clothing, jewellery, land and slaves for their work." While they could attain high individual status through their work and their social behaviors, their social status as a group was low. They depended economically on the nobles who paid them for their services, they could not attain positions of political power, and they were not allowed to bear arms…" Understanding their role in society is understanding the importance of expression in Senegal. As historians, entertainers, and musicians, griots were influential in many ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, births, religious parades, and politics, for they used song and speech to recite important information with the usage of praise songs.
|
|
Diabaté was born in Kita, Mali, a town relatively near to Mali's capital of Bamako, known for its artistic and cultural prominence within the Manding community of West Africa.Gesret, Céline (2010) "Mamadou Diabaté: "Si crees en tus decisiones, crees en tu destino"", La Vanguardia, July 30, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2013 He was born into a family of griots, with his father, Djelimory n'fa Diabaté, also a kora musician and a member of the Instrumental Ensemble of Mali. He began playing the kora, a 21-string harp at a very young age, performing at various public events in his country and was becoming somewhat of a regional celebrity by that time as well.
|
|
Osun grove One of the first observations of first time visitors to Yorubaland is the rich, exuberant and ceremonial nature of their culture, which is made even more visible by the urbanized structures of Yoruba settlements. These occasions are avenues to experience the richness of the Yoruba culture. Traditional musicians are always on hand to grace the occasions with heavy rhythms and extremely advanced percussion, which the Yorubas are well known for all over the world. Praise singers and griots are there to add their historical insight to the meaning and significance of the ceremony, and of course the varieties of colorful dresses and attires worn by the people, attest to the aesthetic sense of the average Yoruba.
|
|
Mandinka oral tradition holds that Kaabu was the actual birthplace of the Mande musical instrument, known as the Kora. A kora is built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator, and has a notched bridge like a lute or guitar. The sound of a Kora resembles that of a harp, yet with its gourd resonator it has been classified by ethnomusicologists such as Roderick Knight as a harp-lute. The Kora was traditionally used by the griots as a tool for preserving history, ancient tradition, to memorize the genealogies of patron families and sing their praises, to act as conflict intermediaries between families, and to entertain.
|
|
Sassouma Bereté (or Berete) was the first wife of the 13th century King of Mali: Maghan Kon Fatta, the father of Sundiata Keita. Everything that is known about Sassouma came from the Epic of Sundiata Keita (the first Emperor of the Mali Empire), passed down by Mandinka griots since the 13th century. As the co-wife of Sogolon Conde, she is reported to have been very resentful of Sogolon and used to humiliate her openly for giving birth to a deformed son (Sundiata Keita). After the death of Naré Maghann, she feared that Sogolon's would usurp the throne of her own son, Dankaran Touman, and thus plotted with her son to kill Sundiata Keita.
|
|
In most areas the xalam is played by male griots, or praise singers who are born into the profession. It most often acts as a solo or duo instrument to accompany praise songs and historical recitations, and in some areas it may form part of a larger group including kora, drums, and calebashes. It is traditionally heard at weddings, infant naming ceremonies, and (always with amplification) is now a common member of folklore ensembles, popular mbalax groups, and ndaga variety shows. Important past and present Senegalese xalam masters include Sàmba Jabare Sàmb, Ama Njaay Sàmb, Abdulaay Naar Sàmb (all from the Jolof), Abdulaay Soose (from the Saalum), and Bokunta Njaay (from the Bawol).
|
|
In 2008, the band released Knock on Wood, which featured acoustic interpretations of their past material. The band payed a homage to the original Woodstock festival at their 2009 Paléo Festival gig, scoring the documentary Woodstock live with samples from the original artists. Hänni was involved in the recording of the band's tenth studio album, 2010's Everybody Knows; the band sought an improvisation-oriented direction with the addition of a fourth member. The record was succeeded by live albums, Super Ready/Fragmenté Tour – Live at Rote Fabrik, Zürich and Griots and Gods – Live at Eurockéennes Festival, Belfort; the latter featured the live collaboration between the band and experimental hip hop duo Dälek at Eurockéennes 2007.
|
|
Mary Carter Smith in 1997 Mary Carter Smith (1919 – April 24, 2007) was a noted American educator who helped revive storytelling as an educational tool. She graduated from Coppin State University and was a teacher in the Baltimore City Public School system for thirty-one years. Additionally, she was a co- founder of Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Maryland, founding member of Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America, the Arena Players theatre company and the Griots' Circle of Maryland. She hosted a Saturday morning radio program, "Griot for the Young and the Young at Heart" and, in 1983, Mary Smith was named the official Griot of Baltimore City and, in 1991, the official Griot of Maryland.
|
|
The valley that was to become modern day Kazaure has a long history. It was said to have been first settled by a group of Hausa (also known as Habe) hunter clan under the leadership of a warrior called Kutumbi. It was around the year 1300 CE. According to Oral Tradition passed down through the centuries by Griots, Kutumbi and his people were said to have migrated from the settlement of blacksmiths living on the Dala Hills-believed by historians to be the first inhabitants of the land now known as Kano. The legend of Kazaure's founding tells the story of how Kutumbi on one of his hunting expeditions found a valley surrounded by huge defensive plateaus and rich with rivers and small streams.
|
|
The douga was recorded by Mory and Madina Kouyaté, Guinean griots, in 1960, and that recording was reworked in the 1960s by the Ensemble National de Guinée "as a praise song to the Guinean army". That version, "Armée Guinnéenne", was in turn adapted by the Guinean jazz ensemble Bembeya Jazz National, in what is said to be an updated version of the douga, "an ancient Malinké [or Mandinka] warrior song". The song is linked to the ring shouts of the Gullah people of the US Atlantic coast, and specifically the buck dance the "Buzzard lope" (a well-known element of African-American dancing of the 19th century, and later incorporated into the minstrel show) is said to be "resonant" with the douga.
|
|
"After Mambo Nassau in 1982, Lizzy wanted to go to South Africa and record with musicians from Soweto. South Africa was still under apartheid, so in order to persuade the record company Lizzy recorded in Paris a couple of songs inspired by South African music. "Mister Soweto" , "Maita", "Les Baisers d’Amants", came from theses sessions, orphan songs, griots ballads, African roller coaster produced by Adam Kidron (who just had produced Rip Rig + Panic & Scritti Politti) with guests Krootchey on vocals and Mike Mc Voy as a white master rabbit, Green Gartside (Scritti Politti) & Aswad drummer OEs Drummie Zeb. "Bob Marley’s cover « Sun is Shining » was recorded in 1995 in Massachusetts’s Bear den studio with Greg Jiritano, John Schumann and Michel Bassignani : Kusturica dub in mind.
|
|
The social status of signares also allowed for greater social mobility in Gorée than in other parts of Africa. Though there is limited documentation on the origins of most of the signares, it seems likely that at this time the people of Gorée were divided into several social classes: the jambor or freeborn; the jam or people of slave descent; the tega and uga or blacksmiths and leatherworkers and griots or storytellers. Many signares were of the jam or griot class, and were often married by European men because they were considered especially beautiful. Once married to European men, women helped them handle many of their trading affairs and transactions, and gained economic and social stature in the community themselves.
|
|
Another important traditional influence is the lute known as the teherdent, which is played by the griots of the Gao and Timbuktu regions. In the late 1970s, when the founding members of Tinariwen started playing acoustic guitars, they played a traditional repertoire adapted to the western guitar. Other regional influences include Berber music from northern Algeria, especially Kabyle singers like Ait Menguellet and Ferhat; the pop sounds of electrified rai music of Algeria; pop singers from Algeria like Rabah Driassa; pop groups from Morocco like Nass El Ghiwane and Lemchaheb with their lute and mandol riffs; the classical pop of Egypt; and even Bollywood music. Tinariwen was also influenced by traditional Malian musicians, the most famous of which was Ali Farka Touré.
|
|
Claims such as these are referred to by scholars like G. Wesley Johnson as nothing more than "Islamic legitimacy" - in African countries where Islam is now the predominant religion such as Senegal, and where Muslim griots try to link historical African figures to the prophet Muhammad either through a line of descent or by claiming that the ancestor of the historical figure belonged to Muhammad's tribe or was one of his followers (an attempt to distant them from their traditional African religious past).Johnson, G. Wesley, The emergence of Black politics in Senegal: the struggle for power in the four communes, 1900-1920, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace (1971), p.10Research in African literatures, Volume 37. University of Texas at Austin.
|
|
The T’heydinn dates back to the 17th century and contains dozens of poems that praise the exploits of Moorish emirs and sultans and narrates events and traditions that trace the social, cultural and historical evolution of the Moors. The T'heydinn talk of the intermingling of the two main elements of Moorish society today, the Beni Hassan, the descendants of the Beni Hilal who migrated from the Arabian peninsula, and the Sanhaja, the ancient Berber inhabitants of Mauritania. It is performed by griots (or iggawen in Hassaniya) who are singers who have acquired their art by directly imitating the musical talents of their ancestors.Nomination File No. 00524 for Inscription on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011.
|
|
Remarkably, the Jola o'teck technique of playing the akonting is the only extant down- picking style of lute playing found in all of West Africa thus far. Even more pertinent to the ongoing search for the banjo's ancestors, it's the only West African lute with a banjo-like short "thumb string" which is played in this manner. In addition to the Jola akonting, the Manjago buchundu, the Papel busunde, the Balanta kisinta, and all the various kinds of wooden-bodied lutes that are exclusive to the griots (for example, the Mande ngoni, the Wolof xalam, the Fula hoddu, and the Soninke gambare) have a short "thumb string" drone. The "thumb string" seems to be a feature unique to lutes of Senegambian origin which have three or more strings and are played with the fingers, regardless of playing style.
|
|
After some polite chatter, the King allowed the French to build a small wooden chapel. In December, the King went to Joal mounted on a decorated horse, accompanied by a group of griots and more than a thousand Serer warriors. Gallais was so impressed that he wrote a letter to Father Bessieux in which he said: :"The Serer people are numerous and powerful and well worth your pastoral solicitude."Klein, p49-50 In 1849, the King granted Gallais the land of Father Aloyse Kobès (a French missionary whom Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof would later threaten to kill if he dare to disobey his ordersKobès threatened to build a stone chapel with or without the permission of Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof (King of Sine) after he was ordered by King Kumba Ndoffene not to, hence the threat.
|
|
The seven low notes that should be written on the F clef are replaced by Arabic or Roman numerals and written on the G clef. While griots still compose in the traditional way (without writing scores), some Western musicians began to write partitures for the kora and adopted the Keur Moussa notation system at the beginning of the 1980s. More than 200 scores have already been written for kora solo or kora and Western instruments. Two notable Western composers for the kora are Brother Dominique CattaSelected scores of Brother Dominique Catta : Banehu Len, Suite n°1 for koras, 1983 ; Fleuves d'Eau Vive, Suite n°2 for koras and chant, 1986; Du Désert, d'ici et d'ailleurs, Airs de kora, 1988 ; Banehu Len II, Suite n°3 for kora and flute, 1990 ; Psautier rythmé de Keur Moussa, 150 Psalms with kora accompaniment, 1996 (all scores published by the Keur Moussa Monastery).
|
|
In the summer of 2004 the World Circuit team of Nick Gold and Jerry Boys travelled with a mobile studio to Mali to record a trilogy of albums at the Hotel Mandé, Bamako. The first album in the series, In the Heart of the Moon, released in June 2005, is a collaboration between Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté that went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album. Second in the series is Boulevard de l’Indépendance by Toumani Diabaté’s pan-African Symmetric Orchestra, composed of musicians (mostly griots) from across the old Mali Empire of west Africa, who play a mix of traditional instruments including the kora, djembe, balafon and bolombatto, as well as guitar and electronic keyboard. The third and final part of the Mandé Sessions trilogy, Savane (released July 2006), was also the first posthumous Ali Farka Touré release.
|
|
Krzyżaniak, Lech; Kroeper, Karla & Kobusiewicz, Michał, "Muzeum Archeologiczne w Poznaniu", "Interregional contacts in the later prehistory of northeastern Africa", Poznań Archaeological Museum (1996), pp 57-58, Diop, Cheikh Anta, "The African origin of civilization: myth or reality" L. Hill (1974), p 197, American Society of African Culture, "African forum", Volumes 3-4, American Society of African Culture., (1967), p 85 The dead were buried in a pyramid shaped tomb. Ndiaye, Ousmane Sémou, "Diversite et unicite Sereres: L’exemple de la Region de Thies" [in] "Ethiopiques n°54", revue semestrielle de culture négro-africaine, Nouvelle série, volume 7 2e semestre (1991) (Retrieved : 10 May 2012) The Serer griots play a vital and religious role on the death of a Serer King. On the death of a Serer king, the Fara Lamb Sine (the chief griot in the Serer Kingdom of Sine) would bury his treasured drum (the junjung) with the king.
|
|
Jola village Diola Unlike most ethnic groups of the Senegambian region, the Jola do not have caste system of Jewels griots, slaves, nobility, leather workers, etc. Their communities are based on extended clan settlements normally large enough to be given independent names, including the Jola Karon, Jola Mlomp, Jola Elinnkin, Jola Caginol, Jola Huluf, Jola Jamat, Jola Joheyt, Jola Bayot, Jola Brin, Jola Seleky, Jola Kabrouse, Jola Jiwat, and Jola Foni.Patience Sonko-Godwin, Ethnic groups of the Senegambia Region, Banjul, Gambia 1986 ,Ethnic Groups of the Gambia: A Brief History (1988),quoted by Daniel Laemouahuma Jatta Jolas are also able herbal medicine practitioners. Their high adaptation to the nature and environment allowed them to be able to create musical centred civilisation, natural medicine centred civilisation, and most important of all, rice cultivation centred civilisation which they do effectively by using a locally made farming tool called the kajando.
|
|
Located on the southwest edge of Birmingham, Alabama and begun in the late 1980s and built over the course of thirty years, Minter's African Village in America is part sculpture garden, part history museum, and part memorial. The African Village in America is an ever-evolving art environment, populated by sculptures made from scrap and found materials from footwear, lawn decorations, toys, old sporting equipment, to baking utensils, and more. Although Minter's sculpture have a variety of themes and influences, from one commemorating the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to one dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Minter's overriding message is to provide a recognition for the eleven million Africans shipped in bondage to America, and to their descendants who helped to build and defend America. The sculptures in the African Village in America tell the stories of African-Americans over the centuries, from the griots and warriors of West Africa to the deadly 1963 bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church.
|
|
Griots are male members of hereditary music and word artisan castes found in certain West African Islamized peoples with similar tripartie caste systems. The griot phenomenon is limited to the various peoples of the Mande language family - some 53 related ethnic groups, such as the Bamana (or Bambara), Mandinka, Malinke, Susu, Soninke, and so on - as well as the non-Mande Wolof, the western Fulas or Fulani (; ), Songhai (also Songhay), Sereer, Lebu, and Tukulóor.) In 2000, Jatta presented his research findings and introduced the Jola akonting at the Third Annual Banjo Collectors Gathering, an annual international conference of the foremost collectors and scholars of 19th and early 20th century banjos. The annual Banjo Collectors Gatherings also serve as the principal forums for the presentations of new research on the banjo's history and organology. Jatta's presentation, in which he performed on the akonting and showed film footage of other Jola musicians playing the instrument, made for quite a sensation.
|
|