Nov 1/04
Accelerating the kora
In honour of the Hallowe’en Hangover I’ll post a track by a group in “disguise”.
The Mandingo Griot Society isn’t actually an African band. It’s a bunch of Americans, Carribeans and West Africans living in the US. Foday Suso, the now well-known bandleader and kora player for the group, is from The Gambia but all of his known recordings have happened elsewhere and with musicians from a variety of backgrounds. Still, there’s something about the kora that will make any music sound eternally Mandingo African.
Today’s track starts as you might expect and eventually builds to a near free-jazz/funk fest by the fifth minute. For some reason I crack-up whenever I listen to this tune.. and then listen more.
Mandingo Griot Society – Jimbasen
Tags: gambia, kora, mande
“Kora Plus” ahead of their time – not the first, but certainly before Mory Kante took it to the bank – from right here in the USA! They did a couple of LPs on the dear departed Flying Fish label and while maybe it seems a little kitschy now, some of the music still sounds pretty nice. And Foday Musa Suso was the first kora player I ever saw, when Mandingo Griot Society came to play at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the 1980s. An early breakthrough in my African music appreciation. So he’s a sentimental favorite… – Rob Weisberg, WFMU Radio, Jersey City NJ USA