Amadu Bansang Jobarteh

Amadu "Bansang" Jobarteh (sometimes spelled Jabate or Diabaté; 1915 – April 8, 2001) was a Gambian musician and virtuoso player of the kora. He performed and popularized the traditional music of Mali and was one of the most respected masters of kora before his death.

Early life and education Jobarteh was born in 1915 in Tambasansang, a small Wuli District village on the Upper River Region of the Gambia river, in what was then the British Gambia. His father was originally from Mali (administered as French Sudan) but settled in Tambasansang, where Jobarteh's grandfather Amadou was born.

His family originated in Brikama and belonged to the griot (Manding: jali) caste of oral and musical storytellers. Jobarteh came from a long family tradition of players of the kora, a 21-string west African harp-like instrument. He was introduced to music by his father Fili Jobarteh, a jali who played kora, although he was taught to play kora by his elder brother Bala Jobarteh, who was the father of Sidiki Diabaté and grandfather of the renowned Toumani Diabaté.

Musical career

Jobarteh was considered to be a master of the kora. Critics wrote that the clarity of his tone and distinct style of improvisation were immediately recognizable.

His performances could last for more than an hour, particularly when performing juluba, prestigious “big tunes” traditionally used in praise of important figures. One such piece was Tutu Jara, one of the oldest pieces in the repertoire and originally performed by a singer accompanied by multiple akonting. Jobarteh transcribed it for the kora and recorded the piece in 1978 as a virtuosic solo instrumental, incorporating traditional material alongside his own variations. The story tells of a Malian princess with stillborn children who prays for a snake (tutu) to ensure the survival of her baby boy, whom she names Tutu Jara.

He tuned his kora from a central tonic string he treated as the keynote, then set the "answerer" string and the others in relation to it, adjusting individual notes by ear—among them the raised fourth that gave his Sauta tuning its distinctive sound. By the 1990s, as the oldest living jali from Eastern Gambia, his account of oral history behind standard kora pieces like "Allah l'a ke" came to be considered authoritative by ethnomusicologists.

Toward the end of his career, Jobarteh traveled extensively through Britain, the United States, Canada, and Europe through the World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival. and also recorded music with his student Tunde Jegede. Jobarteh held a post at the University of Michigan and taught music at the University of Washington (UW) for a year as visiting lecturer. The UW Ethnomusicology Archive contains a number of his recordings. In 1978, he traveled to England, and recordings were made at the University of Cambridge for the Cambridge Audio-Visual Ethnomusicological Archive. Jobarteh had a good relationship with Dawda Jawara, the first President of the Gambia. He was the personal griot of the former Chief Sanjally Bojang, one of the founders of the country's first ruling People's Progressive Party (PPP) Party.

As part of his cultural custom, Jobarteh married four women: Kumuna Sakiliba, Kachikaly Suso, Lanla Conteh, and Nyima Cham. He fathered over 17 children. The Amadou Bansang Jobarteh School of Music was founded in 1996 by his son Sanjally Jobarteh to teach kora, later becoming a music school.

Discography

Kora Manding: Mandinka Music of the Gambia (Ethnodisc Recordings, 1972) Master of the Kora (Eavadisc, 1978) Tabara (Music of the World, 1993) Gambia for the People (The Orchard, 2001)