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Senegalese Wolof griot, 1890

A Hausa Griot performs at Diffa, Niger, playing a Komsa (Xalam).

A griot ( /ˈɡri.oʊ/; French pronunciation: [ɡʁi.o]) or jeli (djeli or djéli in French spelling) is a West African storyteller, praise singer, poet and musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards. According to Paul Oliver in his book Savannah Syncopators, "Though [the griot] has to know many traditional songs without error, he must also have the ability to extemporize on current events, chance incidents and the passing scene. His wit can be devastating and his knowledge of local history formidable." Although they are popularly known as "praise singers", griots may also use their vocal expertise for gossip, satire, or political comment.

Griots today live in many parts of West Africa, and are present among the Mande peoples (Mandinka, Malinké, Bambara, etc.), Fulɓe (Fula), Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritanian Arabs and many other smaller groups. The word may derive from the French transliteration "guiriot" of the Portuguese word "criado", or masculine singular term for "servant." It must be noted that these story-tellers are more predominant in the northern portions of West Africa.^{[citation needed]}

In African languages, griots are referred to by a number of names: jeli in northern Mande areas, jali in southern Mande areas, guewel in Wolof, gawlo in Pulaar (Fula). Griots form an endogamous caste, meaning that most of them only marry fellow griots and that those who are not griots do not normally perform the same functions that they perform.

Terms "griot" and "jali"[link]

The Manding term jeliya (meaning "musicianhood") is sometimes used for the knowledge of griots, indicating the hereditary nature of the class. Jali comes from the root word jali or djali (blood). This word is also the title given to griots in areas corresponding to the former Mali Empire. Though the usage "griot" is far more common in English, some griot advocates such as Bakari Sumano prefer the term jeli.

In the Mali Empire[link]

Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (Fula people, Mali), 1890.

The Mali Empire (Malinke Empire), at its height in the middle of the 14th century, extended from central Africa (today's Chad and Niger) to West Africa (today's Mali and Senegal). The Empire was founded by Sundjata Keita, whose exploits remain celebrated in Mali even today. In the Epic of Sundjata, King Naré Maghann Konaté offered his son Sundiata a griot, Balla Fasséké, to advise him in his reign. Balla Fasséké is thus considered the first griot and the founder of the Kouyaté line of griots that exists to this day.

Each aristocratic family of griots accompanied a higher-ranked family of warrior-kings or emperors, which they called jatigi. In traditional culture, no griot can be without a jatigi, and no jatigi can be without a griot; the two are inseparable, and worthless without the other. However, the jatigi can accept a "loan" of his griot to another jatigi.

Most villages also had their own griot, who told tales of births, deaths, marriages, battles, hunts, affairs, and hundreds of other things.

In Mande society[link]

In Mande society, the jeli was as a historian, advisor, arbitrator, praise singer (patronage), and storyteller. Essentially, these musicians were walking history books, preserving their ancient stories and traditions through song. Their inherited tradition was passed down through generations. Their name, jeli, means "blood" in Manika language. They were said to have deep connections to spiritual, social, or political powers as music is associated as such. Speech is also said to have power as it can recreate history and relationships.

Today[link]

Bakari Sumano, head of the Association of Bamako Griots in Mali from 1994 to 2003, was an internationally-known advocate for the importance of the griot in West African society.

In popular culture[link]

In the Malian film Guimba the Tyrant directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko, the storytelling is done through the village griot, who also serves to provide comic relief.

In the late novels of the Ivorian writer Ahmadou Kourouma, Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote takes the form of a praise-song by the Sora, the Griot, Bingo to the president-Dictator of the fictitious République du Golfe. His final novel Allah is not Obliged also prominently features a griot character.

There are also references in the Alex Haley's book Roots to a griot who passed down his family history through the oral tradition. When Haley traces back his history, passing from his previous generation through the slave time, back to Africa, he thought there should be griots telling his history and the history of his ancestor, known in the family as "The African", who was captured in the bushes as he was seeking timber to make a talking drum. When Haley arrived in Africa to do research for his book, he believed he had actually found griots telling his history. Through them he learned the ancestor's identity: Kunta Kinte. Since he had first heard the story from his grandmother and later refreshed by his older cousin, he believed that they were griots in their own way until someone put the story to writing. He later learned that his cousin had died within an hour of his arrival at the village.

However, this story illustrates the problems and complexities of oral tradition, especially when approached without expert knowledge. In 1981, it was shown (Wright, 1981) that the story of Kunta Kinte had been manufactured by a well-wisher. Following the publication of Roots, the story was being told in multiple versions with differing embellishments, having entered the stock of general stories.

In Paule Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow, the protagonist Avatara (Avey) might take on some of the characteristics of a griot, especially in her commitment to passing on to her grandchildren her aunt's oral story of the Ibos at the Landing, in which Africans brought to the U.S. Sea Islands to be slaves promptly turned around and walked back to Africa over the water.

Griot is the name of an instrumental track on Jon Hassell and Brian Eno's ambient music album Possible Musics.

Innercity Griots is the second album by Los Angeles hip-hop group Freestyle Fellowship, released in 1993 through 4th & B'way Records. The group, consisting of four emcees: Aceyalone, P.E.A.C.E., Mikah 9 and Self Jupiter, received worldwide acclaim with their second project. Released during the prominent gangsta era of West Coast hip hop, Innercity Griots, along with albums such as The Pharcyde's Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde and Del tha Funkee Homosapien's I Wish My Brother George Was Here, established an acclaimed era of alternative hip hop in California.

Malian novelist Massa Makan Diabaté was both a descendant and critic of the griot tradition. Though Diabaté argued on the one hand that griots "no longer exist" in the classic sense,^[1] he also saw this tradition as one that could be salvaged through written literature. His fiction and plays blend traditional Mandinka storytelling and idiom with Western literary forms.

Griot, meaning urban storyteller and teacher of history, is referenced by Professor A.L.I. in the first line of his 2010 single "Guantanamo".^[2]

Notable griot artists and groups[link]

Mandinka Griot Al-Haji Papa Susso performing songs from the oral tradition of the Gambia on the kora

This ancient Baobab tree in the Réserve de Bandia, Sénégal, forms a living mausoleum for the remains of famed local Griots.

Burkina Faso[link]

• Badenya les Frères Coulibaly (Burkina Faso)
• Sotigui Kouyaté (Burkina Faso)

Cote d'Ivoire[link]

Gambia[link]

• Sura Susso (Gambia)
• Amadu Bansang Jobarteh (Gambia)
• Dembo Jobarteh (Gambia)
• Lamin Saho (Gambia)
• Malamini Jobarteh (Gambia)
• Foday Musa Suso (Gambia)
• Papa Susso (Gambia)
• Seikou Susso (Gambia)
• Sherrifo Konteh (Gambia)
• Sanjally Jobarteh (Gambia)
• Salieu Suso (Gambia)
• Boubacar Diebate (Gambia/Senegal/USA)

Ghana[link]

• Atongo Zimba (Ghana)
• Bawa Abudu (Ghana)
• King Ayisoba (Ghana)
• Akumah Amodoo (Ghana)

Guinea[link]

• Alpha Oulare (Guinea)
• Aly "Alisco" Diabate (Guinea)
• Ba Cissoko (Guinea)
• Djeli Moussa Diawara or Jali Musa Jawara (Guinea)
• El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyate (Guinea)
• Famoro Dioubaté's Kakande (Guinea/New York)
• Mory Kanté (Guinea)
• N'Faly Kouyate (Guinea)
• National Instrumental Ensemble of Guinea (Guinea)
• Prince Diabaté (Guinea)

Mali[link]

• Abdoulaye Diabaté (Mali)
• Afel Bocoum (Mali)
• Baba Sissoko (Mali)
• Balla Kouyate (Mali)
• Balla Tounkara (Mali)
• Boubacar Diabate (Mali)
• Boubacar Traoré (Mali)
• Cheick Hamala Diabaté (Mali)
• Djelimady Tounkara (Mali)
• Habib Koité (Mali)
• Kasse Mady Diabate (Mali)
• Mamadou Diabaté (Mali)
• Rokia Traoré (Mali)
• Yacouba Sissoko (Mali)
• Toumani Diabaté (Mali)
• Abdoul Doumbia (Mali/USA)
• Bekaye Kouyate (Mali/USA)
• Mady Kouyate (Senegal/Mali/USA)

Mauritania[link]

• Dimi Mint Abba (Mauritania)

Nigeria (northern)[link]

• Alhaji Musa Dan Kwairo (Nigeria)
• Dan Maraya Jos (Nigeria)
• Muhamman Shata (Nigeria)
• Aliyu Dan Dawo (Nigeria)
• Alhaji Dan Anache (Nigeria)
• Jankidi (Nigeria)
• Garba Sufa (Nigeria)
• Audu Karen-Gusau (Nigeria)
• Audu Wazirin Dan Duna (Nigeria)
• Sa'idu Faru (Nigeria)
• Haruna Uji (Nigeria)
• Barmani Choge (Nigeria)
• Binta Zabaya (Nigeria)
• Dan Lami Nasarawa (Nigeria)
• Sarkin Taushin Katsina (Nigeria)
• Marafa Dan Bawa Kaura (Nigeria)
• Sani Sabulu (Nigeria)

Niger[link]

• Etran Finatawa (Niger)
• Malam Mamane Barka (Niger)
• Saadou Bori (Niger)
• Yacouba Moumouni (Niger)
• Sani Aboussa (Niger)
• Abdallah ag Oumbadougou (Niger)
• Fati Mariko (Niger)
• Mamoudou Abdousalam (Niger)
• Moussa Poussy (Niger)
• John Sofakolé (Niger)

Senegal[link]

• Ablaye Cissokko (Senegal)
• Alassane Sarr (Senegal)
• Gokh-Bi System (Senegal)
• Baaba Maal (Senegal)
• Baay Bia (Senegal)
• Daby Balde (Senegal)
• Djimo Kouyate (Senegal)
• Dou Dou N'Diaye Rose (Senegal)
• Mamadou Lynx N'Diaye (Senegal)
• Nuru Kane (Senegam)
• Mansour Seck
• Pape Kanoutè (Senegal)
• Backa Niang (Senegal)
• Vieux Diop (Senegal)
• Youssou N'Dour (Senegal)

See also[link]

• List of Sub-Saharan African folk music traditions
• Ahmadou Kourouma
• The skalds performed a similar function in Scandinavian societies.
• The bards performed a similar function in Welsh society, and the fili in Irish society.
• Marabout, another caste of the indigenous African societies
• Azmari
• Rapping

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Charry, Eric S. (2000). Mande Music: Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa. Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology. Includes audio CD. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Hale, Thomas A. (1998). Griots and Griottes: Masters of Words and Music. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
• Hoffman, Barbara G. (2001). Griots at War: Conflict, Conciliation and Caste in Mande. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
• Suso, Foday Musa, Philip Glass, Pharoah Sanders, Matthew Kopka, Iris Brooks (1996). Jali Kunda: Griots of West Africa and Beyond. Ellipsis Arts.
• Wright, Donald R. (1981). "Uprooting Kunta Kinte: on the perils of relying on encyclopoaedic informants." History in Africa, vol. VIII.

External links[link]

• Lavender, Catherine (2000). "African Griot Images." (Webpage for a course at CSI/CUNY)
• Salmons, Catherine A. (2004). Balla Tounkara "Griot"
• The Maninka and Mandinka Jali/Jeli
• The Ancient Craft of Jaliyaa
• Keita: The Heritage of the Griot - Film Notes
• The Griot Music documentary by Volker Goetze
• theGrio News The Grio is African-American News from NBC.
• Jeliya - The art of Jeli (being a griot)

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Sekouba "Bambino" Diabaté is the stage name of Sekouba Diabaté, a singer and musician born in Guinea, West Africa in 1964.

Bambino was born and raised in the village of Kintinya, some 25 kilometers from the town of Siguiri, close to the border with Mali. He was born into a musical family, and is descended from a long line of griot people, known in some Mande languages as jeli. His mother died when he was three years old, but left behind a legacy in the songs she had recorded which her son later heard on the radio. Her music became one of his main influences. Her death left Bambino with his father, who did not encourage his musical aspirations, hoping he would follow him working in his transport company, but from age eight, Bambino Diabaté sang with local bands and began to achieve musical renown. When he was 16, then-President Sékou Touré, (a music lover) who had heard him sing with local bands, insisted that he join Bembeya Jazz, Guinea's best-known musical group.

Thus, in 1983, at the age of 19, Diabaté was asked to join Bembeya Jazz, Guinea's best-known musical group. He was given the nickname "Bambino" to distinguish him from one of the group's guitarists also named Sekou Diabaté (a.k.a. Sekou "Bembeya" a.k.a. "Diamond Fingers"). With Bembeya Jazz, the young vocalist undertook his first tour of Africa in 1985 and toured Europe the following year.

Sekouba Bambino released his first solo recording in 1991, and throughout the 1990s continued to record solo material as well as to sing with the African salsa group Africando. His music is popular throughout West Africa, particularly in Guinea, Mali, and other countries where the Bambara and Malinke languages are spoken. He has become renowned for his vocal prowess, and his voice compares favorably with that of any of his home region's best male singers. He is little known outside Africa, however, as he has consistently chosen to remain true to his West African fan base. His most recent album was released in 2004. His latest single was in 2008.

Discography[link]

External links[link]

• Sekouba Bambino at Allmusic
• Sekouba Bambino on Myspace
• http://sekoubabambino.skyrock.com/
• Review of Bambino, BBC