KORA; PLAYED BY A JALI
[1,2]: Ablaye Cissoko (@ablayecissoko) plays a traditional kora
[3 Video]: Jally Kebba Susso (@jallykebbasusso), an Afro-futurist kora player, playing the kora
[4]: Jalis with their koras
[5]: Aliou Gassama constructs a kora
[6]: A labeled diagram of a kora and its parts
[7]: Ballake Sissoko (@ballake.sissoko) plays a contemporary kora
[8]: The late Toumani Diabaté, a Malian kora master
From: Mandinka culture, Gambia 🇬🇲; also Senegal 🇸🇳, Guinea 🇬🇳, Guinea-Bissau 🇬🇼, and Mali 🇲🇱Source [1,2]: dailysabah.com (@dailysabah)
Source [4]: babathestoryteller.com
Source [5]: thekoraworkshop.co.uk
Source [6]: languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
Source [7]: @ballake.sissoko
Source [8]: brooklynvegan.com
Source notes [1,2]:
“Famous Senegalese maestro Ablaye Cissoko plays the traditional kora instrument, in Saint-Louis, Senegal, July 27, 2023. (AA Photo).”
Source notes [4]:
“In the 13th-century West African Empire of Mali, griots served the royal families as advisors, tutors, and diplomats. Some griots also performed as court musicians, transmitting their knowledge through epic song/poetry and stories.”
Source notes [5]:
“The skin is stretched over the calabash, pulled very tight and tied into place. The horizontal cross bar, and the two vertical handles are pushed through holes made in the skin. The kora body is left to dry in the sun and tacks are used to finish and secure the skin, with excess skin being cut away. Tacks are also used to decorate the kora.”
Source notes [8]:
“Toumani was born in Bamako…in 1965 into a family of griots (hereditary musicians) whose lineage stretches back 71 generations, father to son.”Observations:
The design of the instrument is informed by how its to be used and oriented to its player (round body fits in lap, strings facing player, hand posts to support holding it during play), user experience, prioritizing functional ornament, utility also serving an aesthetic purpose (tacks), formal similarities between carved hand post and kora’s tall post with leather tuning rings