History of Music in Gambia

Gambia is one of the West African countries that closely linked musically with its neighboring country, Senegal. Griots (which is known as Jelis), is a type of hereditary praise-singer, and common throughout the region, a legacy of the olden Mande Empire. Gambian Griots often play the kora, a 21 string harp.

source of picture: www.accessgambia.com

The recent ethnic Mande in Gambia are known as the Mandinka, and they comprise around 36 percent of the country’s population. The region of Brikama has produced some very renowned artists, including Foday Musa Suso. Suso initiated the mandingo Griot Society in New York City in the 1970s, bringing Mande music to the New York avant-garde scene and partnering with Bill Laswell, Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet.

Gambian famous music started in the 1960s, when the Super eagles and Guelewar formed, while hip bands were playing American, British and Cuban music. The Super Eagles went to London in the year 1977, appearing on Mike Raven’s Band call. They played merengue and other pop genres with an African flourish, including Wolof lyrics and minor stylistic elements. After the concert, the band started jamming out some folk tunes and an unknown man heard, told the orchestra that that was the pattern they should be playing. This inspired the group to come back to their country’s musical roots, and they spent two years touring around the Gambia and studying traditional music. The reformed band was known as Ifang Bondi, and their pattern was Afro-Manding blues.

Gambian Laba Sosseh was an important presence in the African and New York salsa scene. Sosseh, who relocated to Dakar, Senegal as a teenager, spent his whole career outside the Gambia.

Civil unrest caused Ifang Bondi and most Gambian musicians to settle to countries such as Netherlands, decimating the nascent music industry. Now, Jaliba Kuyateh and his Kumareh band is the most famous promoter of Gambian Mandinka music. There is also a thriving Gambian hip hop scene.

The former Ifang Bondi artist Juldeh Camara has been working with Justin Adams since the year 2007 and has been travelling all over the world. Also Ifang Bondi, Musa Mboob and Ousman Beyai have begun a new orchestra XamXam that began with a project in the Gambia to produce new music by taking six artists based in the United Kingdom to the Gambia to work with top musicians from four different tribal backgrounds. Ousman Beyai moved to the United Kingdom where he worked with Musa Mboob to set up the live band XamXam.