Some Music from the Heart of Bamako

Greetings once more from sunny Bamako.  This last week has been a complete musical immersion for me; I've been playing/learning at least 6 hours a day during the week.  It's lots of fun, but leaves me without a lot of energy to update the blog.  By way of an apology, and as promised, here's a field recording of my kora teacher, Toumani Kouyaté, playing "Salimu," a traditional Malian song about the dangers of alcohol.

Toumani Kouyate Salimu by waraden

(I think I've figured out how to get this audio player to work; if you're having trouble, please drop me a line @ waraden.diabate [at] gmail.com.)

One of my primary n'goni teachers, Kélémonson Diabaté, has been in Guinea for the last week for a recording session with one of Mali's more famous divas, Amy Koita.  Luckily, his half-brother, Simbo, is around to pick up the slack!  I'll post a picture of him next week.  The brothers' father is a famous musician in his own right; his name is Cemogo (pronounced "Chay-mo-go") Diabaté, and he's been a musical hub in Kita for decades, having reached the ripe old age of 96 or 97, depending on who's telling the story.  I had the chance to meet him in 2006 when I was in Kita when I learned, to my surprise, that he was the one who had made my n'goni!  He is also usually credited by Kita n'goni players as the man who first added extra strings to the traditional 4-stringed n'goni.  It is now common to see 7- or 8-stringed n'gonis among professional griots.  Interestingly, I've learned that both Simbo and my first n'goni teacher, Cheick Hamala Diabaté, tune their 8-stringed n'gonis identically: I strongly suspect that this is because both trace their n'goni "lineage" back to Cemogo.

One of the best parts about being in the midst of the professional griot/musician class is seeing the ways in which "traditional" music is adapting itself.  The n'goni, for example, is an instrument normally classified as "traditional" which has, in fact, undergone a radical physical alteration within living memory.  The kora has undergone a shift of its own through the playing of Toumani Diabaté.  His unique style, which burst onto both the Malian and world stage with his debut album, Kaira, instantly became the benchmark by which all other Malian kora players were judged.  Many of his interpretations of traditional tunes ("Alla L'A Ke," for example) have in turn become standards, and been incorporated into the tradition.  My kora teacher, Toumani Kouyaté, laughingly explained today that most young kora players "don't know the original Lamban; they can only play Toumani Diabaté's version!"  It's fast becoming evident to me that Malian musical "tradition" is not only flexible but even welcomes innovation.  No doubt this is less than revelatory for anyone who has studied other cultures or traditional musics, but I was still surprised.

In final news, I stopped by the Centre Culturel Français today to attend a talk at an "International Colloquium on the Sources of African Music" that's taking place there this week.  I heard a fascinating report on the music of Burkina Faso by Florent Mazzoleni.  As he pointed out, Burkinabé music is basically unknown outside of the country, so it was a treat to hear some.  I'll write something about the conference next week.

The highlight of this week, aside from the hours of music, was definitely watching a man remove not one, not two, but four sheep in gunny sacks from the trunk of a taxi.  And on that note, see you next week!

À l'attaque!

Greetings from Mali!  

It's been a busy first week-and-a-bit.  I've reconnected with my old kora teacher, Toumani Kouyaté, and had several lessons with him.  I've also begun lessons with one of my primary n'goni teachers, Kélémonson Diabaté.  Kélémonson is a highly-regarded traditional n'goni player from Kita, the heartland of Mali's Mandé griot tradition.  He has also performed with Mali's Orchestre Nationale "A," a government-sponsored griot orchestra.  

Some of these terms could probably use some explanation.  The kora and the n'goni are traditional instruments of the Malian griot (the French term for the Bambara-language jeli).  Griots/jelis are oral historians, negotiators, counselors, musicians, praise-singers, orators, and wedding planners/officiators, among other roles. They all come from specific families (Kouyaté, Diabaté, and Sissoko being some of the most famous); as such, griots are often referred to as a sort of caste.  Not every Diabaté or Kouyaté is necessarily a griot, but it's impossible to become a griot if you're not born into one of the families.  Also, although griots are not the only people making music in Mali, they're far and away the dominant ones, so there's an interesting power dynamic between these semi-"official" musicians and the non-official "folk" variety.  There are also popular rap and reggae artists who are not part of the griot caste, too.  I'll try to illuminate the Malian music scene as I go along, but I readily admit to not understanding a lot of what's happening, despite being in the middle of it!

Instrument-wise, the kora is a twenty-one-stringed harp with two rows of strings (see pic below).  The n'goni is a four-stringed lute and a probable ancestor of the American banjo (see pic).  Modern n'gonis can have as many as eight strings, depending on the player.  I'll spend some time laying out each instrument in detail in some later posts.  For the moment, I'll just say that as a banjo player, the n'goni makes a lot more sense to me than the kora, but I'm trying to learn both.

Kélémonson Diabaté and his n'goni

Toumani Kouyaté

A frontal view of the kora

My Fulbright project is to study two different playing regional styles of the n'goni, those of Kita and Ségou.  I'm most familiar with that of Kita since my first n'goni teacher, Cheick Hamala Diabaté, is from there.  However, the Ségou style is also pretty interesting (lots of pentatonic songs, for one thing), and much less well-known than the Kita style.  So, hopefully I can make some useful comparisons and bring back some knowledge that no one outside of W. Africa has figured out yet.  

In the meantime, there's plenty of work to do.  Kélémonson will be in the neighboring country of Guinea for the next week or so, so I'll have time to work on the stuff I've learned so far and maybe transfer some of it to the banjo, as well.  I've also organized all of my old field recordings (I have thirty hours' worth or so) by song, so I'm going to sit down and try to drill myself on which accompaniments and melodies go with which song.  Next week, I'll post a recording of Toumani playing variations on a traditional Malian melody.  Stay tuned!

The masters face off

Questions, comments may be sent to waraden.diabate [at] gmail.com.

The Plan

Welcome to my blog! If you're here, it's probably because I know you in some form or fashion; if not, you're welcome still. This blog will chronicle my explorations of music and culture in Mali, West Africa, during my time there as a Fulbright grantee. That period will probably be from October 3, 2011-July 4, 2012 but, given the inevitable corruption of best-laid plans in Mali, that could certainly change.

I'll try to update this once a week, though we'll see how that goes. I also realize that a lot of blogs quickly turn into long, mawkish descriptions of the everyday or passionate, yet intensely boring, rants. I'm going to try my best to avoid all that, and there will be lots of pictures, field recordings, and hopefully some videos once I get to Mali.

My plan is to study the playing techniques, repertoire, and lore of the Malian n'goni, a 4-string lute.  I got started playing it in 2002 or so with a Malian griot (an oral historian/musician/all-around cultural negotiator) named Cheick Hamala Diabaté who lives in the Washington D.C. area.  Cheick is from Kita, in Western Mali, a famous griot town that has produced such fabled musicians as Toumani Diabaté and Kélétigui Diabaté, and a whole host of lesser-known musicians.  The Manden griot music centered in Kita is probably the best-known Malian musical tradition outside of Mali.  That said, there are many other musical traditions, notably Bambara music, centered on Ségu, in central Mali.  Bambara music tends to include more pentatonic melodies, and has historically had a different repertoire and playing style.  This is all changing due to the fact that many professional musicians have moved to the Mali's capital, Bamako, and are actively swapping tunes and playing styles.

Hopefully, I will be able to study the Kita and Ségu n'gonis with two acknowledged masters: Kélémonson Diabaté of Kita, who has played with several of Mali's national griot troupes, and Bassékou Kouyaté of Ségu, who with his group N'goni Ba is a rising star on the World Music scene.   Both live in Bamako, which will make it easier to meet with them, but both also tour internationally, so I may be forced to find some supplementary teachers as well.  We'll see!

Questions and comments can be sent to waraden.diabate [at] gmail.com.  Next week in Mali!