<
https://theconversation.com/kora-in-search-of-the-origins-of-west-africas-famed-stringed-musical-instrument-216287>
"“How come we’ve never heard of this beautiful instrument until now?” This was
posted by a first-year college student to my world music course discussion
board recently. He voiced what many of his peers probably felt after watching
the extraordinary documentary
Ballaké Sissoko, Kora Tales.
The film follows Sissoko, a world class musical artist, from his home in
Bamako, Mali to a sacred well and baobab tree in The Gambia on the Atlantic
coast. In the film, the award-winning Sissoko revisits his childhood homeland
and traces the origins of the instrument that became his destiny.
Sissoko is a jeli (called a griot by outsiders) – a hereditary oral historian
and musician attached to the ruling class. Like generations before him, he
plays the kora, a unique kind of harp that’s indigenous to the western African
savannah. It has 21 strings and is played with four fingers. And it can create
dazzling, dense musical textures as well as thin shimmering veneers that
accompany the delivery of deep oral history. It is one of the most
sophisticated handmade musical instruments in the world, both in its musical
capabilities and the depth of its tradition.
Ballaké Sissoko: Kora Tales is a beautifully made film that should be seen by
everyone interested in African culture and history."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
