Alhaji Bai Konte was a jali from Brikama whose international performances helped introduce the kora to new audiences. He appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1973 and made influential recordings. His family and musical collaborators continued this international exchange through later generations of kora performers.
Dembo Konte carried the music of a prominent Gambian kora family to international audiences. A son of Alhaji Bai Konte, he recorded with fellow kora player Kausu Kuyateh and balafon player Mawdo Suso. His wider recording collaborations also included the British group 3 Mustaphas 3.
Malamini Jobarteh was a Gambian jali whose work combined international performance, recording and teaching. He toured with Alhaji Bai Konte and recorded with Dembo Konte. At his family compound in Brikama, he ran the Teramang Traditional Music School, passing kora knowledge to younger musicians.
Dembo Jobarteh was a Gambian kora musician who also played drums and balafon and sang. A member of the extended Jobarteh musical family, he worked as a professional musician in Senegal and The Gambia. He founded the Gambian Griot School of Music and Dance to teach traditional performance.
Ebraima Jobarteh, known as Tata Dindin, was a Gambian kora player who expanded the instrument into amplified band music and international collaborations. The son of Malamini Jobarteh and brother of Pa Bobo, he worked with traditional repertoire as well as contemporary arrangements and cross-cultural musical projects.
Salieu Suso is a Gambian jali who began learning the kora from his father as a child. His training combined instrumental technique with Mandinka genealogy and history. After performing in Africa and Europe, he settled in the United States and developed a wide range of musical collaborations.
Juldeh Camara is a Gambian musician associated with the ritti, the one-stringed fiddle used in Fula musical traditions. His partnership with British guitarist Justin Adams brought this sound into international blues and rock settings. Their recordings include Soul Science and the Real World release Tell No Lies.
Pa Bobo Jobarteh is a Brikama musician from the Jobarteh family of kora players. He performs as a singer, arranger and composer, combining inherited repertoire with Afro-Manding band music. His work includes the Touba Kaira Band and the song Oh Gambia Peace, Love and Unity.
Seikou Susso is a Gambian kora player born in Sukuta Nanie. Coming from a family of jalis, he uses music and poetry to communicate Mandingo history and oral tradition. His performances and teaching have brought Gambian kora music to community venues and audiences in Britain.
Sona Jobarteh is a Gambian-British kora player, singer and composer from a hereditary musical family. Her professional career has challenged the convention of male kora performance within griot dynasties. She founded The Gambia Academy in 2015, connecting formal education with African cultural knowledge, music and history.
