WOMAD

Tiramakhan Ensemble

From Gambia

The kora, a 21-string instrument that spans three octaves and can sound variously like a harp, lute or guitar, has entranced WOMAD audiences for many years. Master players such as Pa Jobarteh and Mory Kanté have long been a feature of our festivals, while Soriba Kouyaté played here last year. The Tiramakhan Ensemble is composed of two of the leading lights of Ifang Bondi - Momodou Suso and Badou Jobe - with acoustic bass and percussion backing. Momodou Suso comes from a family of jalis, professional musicians and praise singers who keep the oral history of the Manding people and comment on current affairs – they're somewhere between historians and journalists, armed with a kora rather than a pen. If you're wondering why so many West African musicians have similar second names (Jobarteh and its variant Diabaté, Sissokho and its Gambian version Suso), it's because these are names that go with the profession, just as our Smiths or Taylors used to hold the job their name implies. Badou Jobe is the bandleader of Ifang Bondi, with whom he plays bass. In this group, he is the second kora player. El Hadj Samb, Ifang Bondi's lead vocalist, adds percussion and backing vocals to this ensemble. Other members of the parent group, including riti player Juldeh Camara, also contribute to the Tiramakhan Ensemble. The group plays both contemporary and traditional material, with much of the latter relating tales of the Kaabu kingdom, whose territory covered what is now the Gambia, Senegal and Guinea Bissau. It was founded in the twelfth century by the warrior Tiramakhan (hence the group's name) and was only superseded in the colonial wars in 1867.