Foday Musa Suso
Foday Musa Suso (* 1950 in Sare Hamadi , a small town in the Wuli district in the Upper River Region ) is a musician and composer from the West African state of Gambia . He belongs to the Mandinka ethnic group and is a griot (other spelling Jali ). His favorite musical instrument is the kora ; but he also plays gravikord and various other instruments.
Suso emigrated to Chicago in the 1970s , where he founded the world jazz band The Mandingo Griot Society in 1978 with Adam Rudolph , Hamid Drake and Joseph Thomas , which also played with Don Cherry .
He has performed with Philip Glass , Herbie Hancock and the Kronos Quartet .
Discography
- 1970: Kora Music from Gambia (Smithsonian Folkways)
- 1979: Mandingo Griot Society (Flying Fish)
- 1982: Mighty Rhythm (Flying Fish)
- 1984: Hand Power (Flying Fish)
- 1984: Mandingo Featuring Foday Musa Suso: Watto Sitta (Celluloid), produced by Bill Laswell
- 1985: Duo with Herbie Hancock : Village Life (Columbia)
- 1985: with Herbie Hancock: Jazz Africa (Verve)
- 1986: Mansa Bendung (Flying Fish)
- 1988: The Dreamtime (CMP, 1990) solo album, produced by Bill Laswell
- 1992: Philip Glass and Foday Musa Suso: Music from “The Screens” (Point Music)
- 1996: The Dreamtime (CMP)
- 2005: Duo with Jack DeJohnette : Music from the Hearts of the Masters (Golden Beams)
- 2005: with Jack DeJohnette's The Ripple Effect: Hybrids (Golden Beams)
- 2008: The Two Worlds (Orange Mountain Music)
- 2012: with Gretchen Rowe: Koralations: Heart to Heart (African Kora meets American Poetry)
Book contribution
- Foday Musa Suso Jali Kunda: Memories in: Jali Kunda: The Griots of West Africa and the rest of the world . Book and CD set. Ellipsis Arts. 1996
Web links
- Literature by and about Foday Musa Suso in the catalog of the German National Library
- Foday Musa Suso official site
- Foday Musa Suso page on the Other Minds homepage
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Suso, Foday Musa |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Gambian musician |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1950 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Sare Hamadi , Wuli District, Upper River Region, The Gambia |