In the we talked about the griots (the jelis), their role in society, and their connection with music. Today we’re going to say something about the kora, Africa’s highest-developed instrument, and one of the trademarks of Mande culture. first article on Mali music
The kora is the “pearl” of Malian instruments. It is a kingly instrument that was played by the jelis in courts while telling stories of great kings, noble families, and the history of the Mandinka peoples. Today, it is still played by the griots (it is very rare to find a kora player who is not a jeli,) and remains the finest, most sophisticated African instrument. The kora resembles both the lute and the harp, with 21 strings and a wide bridge known to players as the “bellybutton” (bato or bara), that stands upright on the sound table, lifting the strings out in two parallel rows. It is built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator with a long hardwood neck. Although it looks like a lute, technically it is a harp, because the strings are at right angles to the sound table, and cannot be stopped against the neck. It means that each of the strings can produce only one note, just like the harp. In performance, the musician plays the instrument while seated. He plucks the strings with the thumb and forefinger of each hand while the remaining fingers hold the instrument steady. Possessing a range of three octaves, the kora is tuned by moving the leather rings on the top of the neck.
The first known reference to the kora comes from Mungo Park's 1799 book, "Travels in Interior Districts of Africa," describing it as "a large harp with 18 strings." The Kora is found in all Mande cultures. It is played by the Mandinka in Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau, the Malinke or Maninka in Guinée, the Bambara or Bamana in Mali and the Dioula in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The most famous kora player today is Toumani Diabaté. He comes from a griot family, and he is the son of Sidiki Diabaté, the most advanced kora player of the 20th century.
In recent times, koras are made with guitar machine heads instead of the traditional leather rings, which makes the tuning much easier. There is also a 25-string kora, invented in the late 20th century, although only a small number of musicians use it, most of them coming from southern Senegal. Seckou Keita, another Senegalese musician, devised a double necked kora, which allows him to switch from one tuning to another within seconds, providing increased playing flexibility.
A metal-made variant of the kora, the gravikord, was invented in the 1990’s by Robert Grawi. It has 24 strings and has a different tuning and a different playing technique than those of the traditional kora. Another one, the Gravi-kora, an electro-acoustic instrument with 21 strings, was also developed by Grawi. It was intended to be a modern instrument for traditional kora players. The gravi-kora has been adopted by musicians such as Daniel Berkman, Jacques Burtin, and Foday Musa Suso.
The first known recording of a kora dates from the early 1930s – a field recording of an unidentified player, made by the American anthropologist Laura Boulton. The next known recording was made by A. Albert, in upper Guinea in 1949, released as an album in 1978 entitled “Folk, Tribal and Café music from West Africa.”
The kora went from being an instrument that was virtually unknown outside its region of origin, to one of Africa’s best known and most versatile melody instruments, through the works and inventions of several generations of players. Among the most virtuosic and popular kora players are Toumani Diabaté, Sidiki Diabaté, Zoumana Diarra, Kandia Kouyaté, Moussa Kouyate, Ballaké Sissoko, and Mamadou Diabaté from Mali; Djeli Moussa Diawara, Tasana Camara, Sekou Kouyate and N'Faly Kouyate from Guinea; Foday Musa Suso, Jali Nyama Suso, Sona Jobarteh, Bai Konte, Jaliba Kuyateh and Lamin Saho from Gambia; Ablaye Cissoko, Djimo Kouyate, Toumany Kouyate, and Mansour Seck from Senegal etc.
