Amadu Bansang Jobarteh
Amadu Bansang Jobarteh | |
|---|---|
Portrait in 1987 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | c. 1914 Tambasensan, British Gambia |
| Origin | Bansang, The Gambia |
| Died | 8 April 2001 (aged 87) |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Kora |
| Years active | c. 1940-2001 |
| Children | Sanjally Jobarteh (son) Sidiki Diabaté (nephew) Toumani Diabaté (grand nephew) |
| Relatives | Sona Jobarteh (granddaughter) |
Amadu "Bansang" Jobarteh (sometimes spelled Diabaté; c. 1914 – April 8, 2001) was a Gambian kora player and virtuoso. He performed and popularized the traditional music of Mali and was one of the most respected masters of kora before his death.[1]
Biography
Jobarteh was born circa 1914 in Tambasensan, a small 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 Tambasensan, where Jobarteh's grandfather Amadou was born. Jobarteh was named after his grandfather. After his father's death, the family moved to Bansang, where Jobarteh was raised. He later moved to Essau, where he was given the nickname "Bansang" to distinguish him from others, and later to Bakau on the coast.[2]
His family originated in Brikama and belonged to the griot 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.[3] 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 father of Sidiki Diabaté and grandfather of the renowned Toumani Diabaté.
Jobarteh was considered to be a master of the kora.[4] His tonal brilliance and distinct style of improvisation were immediately recognizable. He elevated the standard repertoire of kora, especially through his transcriptions of Akonting music, and he displayed a level of dexterity that enabled extraordinary polyphony and voicing, nearly unmatched among solo performers.[5][6]
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. He was a member of The Gambia National Troupe and attended the second Conference on Manding Studies hosted by the Royal Anthropological Institute in London in 1972. He held a post at the University of Michigan and taught music at the University of Washington (UW) for a year as visiting lecturer.[7] The UW Ethnomusicology Archive contains a number of his recordings.[8] The Amadou Bansang Jobarteh School of Music was founded in 1996 by Sanjally Jobarteh to teach kora, later becoming a music school.[9]
Sidia Jatta, a Gambian member of Parliament and founder of the PDOIS Party, referred to him as a living library of African history. According to his son Alagie Pampo Jobarteh, Jatta "would sit beside [him] on a mat...discussing oral history" in their family home in the village of Kembujae.[10] The Jali also had a warm 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 PPP Party.
As part of his cultural custom, Jobarteh married four women: Kumuna Sakiliba, Kachikaly Suso, Lanla Conteh, and Nyima Cham and fathered over seventeen children. He was the grandfather of Sona Jobarteh.
Jobarteh died in Bansang in 2001, aged 86. He was buried in his family village in Kembujae.
Discography
- Master of the Kora (1978)
- Tabarah (1989)
References
- ^ Charry, Eric (October 2000). Mande Music: Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa. University of Chicago Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-0-226-10162-0. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ "Remembering The Great Jali Amadou "Bansang" Jobarteh – The Fatu Network". The Fatu Network. September 2, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ Janson, Marloes (2002). The Best Hand is the Hand that Always Gives: Griottes and Their Profession in Eastern Gambia. Research School CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies. pp. 108, 152. ISBN 978-90-5789-080-2. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ Huxley, Michael (1982). The Geographical Magazine. Geographical Press. p. 492. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ Chester, Galina; Jegede, Tunde (1987). The Silenced Voice: Hidden Music of the Kora. Diabaté Kora Arts. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-9512093-0-1. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ "Living Legacies". www.tundejegede.org. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ "Amadou Bansang Jobarteh, with Phil Boulding". Internet Archive. 1987. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ "UW Ethnomusicology Archive concert recordings: Amadou Bansang Jobarteh - Archives West". archiveswest.orbiscascade.org. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ "Amadou Bansang Jobarteh School of Music". Music In Africa (in French). May 3, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- ^ "Arts and Africa: Amadou Bansang Jobarteh Interview". Afrkca Commons. BBC. Retrieved January 21, 2026.