Two important masters of the kora instrument are Alhaji Bai Konteh (born 1920) and Amadu Bansang Jobarteh (born 1915).
Bai Konteh’s father, kora player Ibrahima Konteh, brought up his family in Jambur, where Bai Konteh lived for many years before relocating his family to the nearby town of Brikama.
In the 1970s Bai Konteh became well known across the Gambia for his radio broadcasts, and also made a real impact on the world scene, touring the USA and Canada several times, appearing at the Newport Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival.
Jobarteh’s father was Fili Jobarteh who emigrated from Mali taking his family with him and settled in the town of Bansang.
There the son started to learn the kora instrument, his first teacher being his elder brother Bala (grandfather of the great Malian jali Toumani Diabaté).
Though less well-known internationally, the prestige and influence of Amadu Bansang Jobarteh in the griot community was second to none.
The most successful of Bai Konteh’s many children was Dembo Konteh, who lives in the family compound in Brikama to this day.
His recordings with Kausu Kuyateh are true African classics.
The trailblazing world music presenter Charlie Gillett wrote:
“Nothing is ever quite the same after the first time you hear a kora played live in a West African setting. Dembo Konte was the musician who opened my ears, and he made these recordings with Kausu Kuyateh soon afterward. They still sound powerful and raw, evocative and timeless.”
The only word there I’d question is “timeless”.
Their collaborations have the character of a dazzling improvisation as the two koras weave their intricate rhythms and you hear in the vocals something of the natural way that the two men interact with one another.
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