Music of the Gambia
The music of the Gambia is closely related to the music scene in its West African neighbor Senegal .
Traditional music
In the traditional music of the Gambia , the Jali (or Jeli), known as “griot” in the French-speaking world , play a key role. As a tradition of praise passed on within families, it has been widespread throughout the West African region since the time of the Medieval Mandale . Playing the kora , a 21-string harp , is widespread among the Gambian jali .
The ethnic group of the Mandinka , which goes back to the Mandreich, makes up around four-tenths of the population of Gambia. A musical stronghold emerged in the region around the town of Brikama , including the musicians Amadou Bansang Jobarteh and Foday Musa Suso . The latter founded the Mandingo Griot Society in New York in the 1970s , and mandemusic influenced the New York avant-garde scene in collaboration with Bill Laswell , Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet .
pop music
The history of Gambian pop music began in the 1960s when the groups The Super Eagles and Guelewar were formed, at the time when popular bands were playing American , British or Cuban music . In 1977 The Super Eagles went to London and played in Mike Raven's band Call. They played merengue and other styles of music with an African influence and lyrics sung in the Wolof language . After the performance they played improvised traditional tunes, whereupon they were asked by an unspecified man to play more in this style. This inspired the group to return to The Gambia to study the country's musical roots. They traveled through the country for two years and formed again as a reformed band under the name Ifang Bondi . Their style of music was called Afro-Manding-Blues.
Ifang Bondi and other Gambian musicians caused unrest when they emigrated to other countries such as the Netherlands, thereby decimating the nascent music industry. In the 1990s, the musician Jaliba Kuyateh and his Kumareh Band were one of the best-known representatives of Gambian music. There is also a growing Gambian hip-hop scene .
literature
- Hudson, Mark, Jenny Cathcart and Lucy Duran. "Senegambian Stars Are Here to Stay". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East , pp 617-633. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
