Jali Musa Jawara
Giles W Gunstone
consumate Kora player and singer from Kan Kan in Guinea and he is also
Mory Kante's brother. He has some great albums on CD including
"Yasimika" and "Soubhindoor". Highly recommended.
Also from Guinea, also playing Kora and singing comes the amazing Djeli
Moussa Diawara. Only CD that I know of is "Cimadan". I am advised that
Jawara is an alternative spelling for Diawara so is there a chance that
this is the same guy moonlighting under a slightly different handle to
increase exposure. Seems far fetched I agree but I cannot find any
reference to Djeli Moussa in the books or anywhere else. Seems like a
real mystery man. If anyone can shed any light on this or provide any
information (biographical details etc) on Djeli Moussa I would certainly
be grateful.
Ton Maas
Giles W Gunstone <ggun...@babylon.compulink.co.uk> wrote:
Have you checked the Kora-connection at <http://www.DRIVE.Net/Kora.htm>?
Ton Maas, Amsterdam NL
Ian Anderson
>Can anyone clear up the confusion about Jali Musa. Okay he is a
>consumate Kora player and singer from Kan Kan in Guinea and he is also
>Mory Kante's brother. He has some great albums on CD including
>"Yasimika" and "Soubhindoor". Highly recommended.
>
>Also from Guinea, also playing Kora and singing comes the amazing Djeli
>Moussa Diawara. Only CD that I know of is "Cimadan". I am advised that
>Jawara is an alternative spelling for Diawara so is there a chance that
>this is the same guy moonlighting under a slightly different handle to
>increase exposure.
Same guy. No moonlighting. It depends on whether the albums were first
released in Anglophone or Francophone countries. In fact, the very
legendary first album came out first in France as Djeli Moussa, then
in Britain on Oval as Jali Musa, then again in Britain on Go! Discs
as Jali Musa, and finally in America on Ryko as Jali Musa, re-titled
as Yasimika and with a different cover and no track titles on the back -
I wonder how many fell for the ruse and bought it again!
i.m.h.o *Haidara* from that first album is just about my all-time
favourite piece of music and has been for a dozen years now. His
imitation Mory Kante disco re-make of it on Cimadan was a criminal act!
Ian Anderson (Folk Roots)
Giles W Gunstone
thing is that on the two CD's i had first, Soubhindoor and Cimadan, his
voice sounds so different. That was what kept putting me off the
inrevitable conclusion that this was same person. Anyway, one guy, two
names (six names actually) no matter I guess. The music is incredible.
How would you get to see some of these great Guinean musicians live.
There is an agency in Amsterdam that has Ousmane Kouyate, Kante Manfila,
and many other big names. How can one prevail on festival organisers
(Womad at least) to put Guinea on the menu ?.
Thanks again for clearing up a mystery.
Ian Anderson
>(Womad at least) to put Guinea on the menu ?.
The nearest to the UK where you can hope to see Guinean artists live,
other than on specific tours for European promoters, is Paris: take a
trip over and wander around the tape shops in Barbes (18e), where you'll
pick up the latest K7s (for as little as 18FF - 2.5 pounds) and find
information on who's around. The best is probably the shop run by Camara
at 45 Rue Marcadet. But unfortunately the French tightening of
immigration controls means that those who live less than legally in
Paris are breaking cover less often though.
Kante Manfila did WOMAD with an acoustic band the year before last, so
they are obviously open to it. Sona Diabate has toured (with Sekou
Diabate), and Jali Musa Jawara was in the UK a fair bit in the late '80s
(and sadly was not apparently the easiest of artists to deal with, so I
can't imagine that promoters are falling over themselves to hire him
again).
Everybody who has seen Les Go De Koteba (who have Guinean content) tells
me they are one of the hottest bands on the international circuit right
now - and I've heard those reports from as far afield as Madagascar,
Kenya, Switzerland and Canada! I'm still trying to track down a contact.
Ian Anderson