Various - Mali The Art Of Griots From Kela 1978-2019

MEG-AIMP / Musée d’ethnographie de Genève

£10.69

Genre: World/Sound Archives/Griots
Format: CD
Catalogue No.: MEGAIMP119
EAN: 4251804122023
Release Date: 15th January 2021

Digipack, notes and booklet in french and english.
Recordings by Bernard Mondet (1978) and Vincent Zanetti (2019).

Recordings made 40 years apart in the same "studio": a dwelling located in the village of Kela (Mali), from where famous lineages of griots originate.

The text of the booklet presents many testimonies of griots, the "masters of the speech" who evoke key elements of their universe.

Original sound archive on magnetic tapes, digitised and restored in 2019.

Fourteen colour photographs, taken in 1978 and 2019 at the same time as the sound recordings.

About a hundred kilometers south-west of Bamako, on the left bank of the Niger River, the Malian village of Kela is known to be home to a large community of griot musicians (jeliw) mostly belonging to the Diabaté family.

Their art is recognised throughout West Africa and many griots come from all over the world to stay there, sometimes for several years, in the hope of becoming immersed in it.

The six pieces for voice accompanied by guitar or traditional koni lutes were recorded in 1978 (tracks 3 to 6) and in 2019 (tracks 1 to 3), in the same traditional dwelling, which still serves as a "studio". The accompanying booklet contains the testimonies of several important musicians who took part in the recording, and evoke key elements of their universe

* Tracklist:
01 Sanuge Jimba (5’27) 02 Kulanjan, “The great eagle” (9’30) 03 Baala kononi fin, “The small black bird of the river” (7’12) 04 Deniya, “Childhood” (5’34) 05 Jata (7’06) 06 Sanaba Musa (9’17)