Foday Musa Suso
Foday Musa Suso (born 9 December 1953,[1] in Sarre Hamadi, Wuli District, in the Upper River Division of The Gambia) is a Gambian musician and composer. He is a member of the Mandinka ethnic group, and is a griot.[1] Griots are the oral historians and musicians of the Mandingo people who live in several west African nations.[1] Griots are a living library for the community providing history, entertainment, and wisdom while playing and singing their songs. It is an extensive verbal and musical heritage that can only be passed down within a griot family.
Suso is a direct descendant of Jali Madi Wlen Suso, the griot who invented the kora over four centuries ago. He spent his childhood in a traditional Gambian village, in a household filled with kora music. Though his father was a master kora player, in griot tradition a father does not teach his own children the instrument. When Foday was nine, his father sent him to live with master kora teacher Sekou Suso in the village of Pasamasi, Wuli District. He trained with Sekou Suso until the age of 18. Suso's primary instrument is the kora, but he also plays the gravikord and several other instruments.
Suso emigrated to
His electrified kora can also be heard on several tracks on
Discography
- 1970 - Kora Music from Gambia (Folkways)
- 1979 - Mandingo Griot Society: Mandingo Griot Society (Flying Fish)[2]
- 1982 - Mandingo Griot Society: Mighty Rhythm (Flying Fish)[2]
- 1984 - Hand Power (Flying Fish)
- 1984 - Mandingo Featuring Foday Musa Suso: Watto Sitta (Celluloid), produced by Bill Laswell[2]
- 1984 - Herbie Hancock: Sound-System (Columbia), guest appearances
- 1985 - with Herbie Hancock: Village Life(Columbia)
- 1986 - Mansa Bendung (Flying Fish)
- 1988 - The Dreamtime (CMP), solo recording produced by Bill Laswell
- 1985 - with Herbie Hancock: Jazz Africa (Verve)[2]
- 1992 - with POINT Music)
- 1995 - with Possession & African Dub: balaphone
- 1996 - with Pharoah Sanders: Message from Home (Verve), guest appearance
- 2005 - with Jack DeJohnette: Music from the Hearts of the Masters (Golden Beams)
- 2005 - with Jack DeJohnette's The Ripple Effect: Hybrids (Golden Beams)
- 2008 - The Two Worlds (Orange Mountain Music)
- 2012 - with Gretchen Rowe: Koralations: Heart to Heart (African Kora meets American Poetry)[3]
Sources
- Jali Kunda: Griots of West Africa & Beyond (1996). Book and CD set. Ellipsis Arts
References
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ^ a b c d e Guthartz, Jason (July 7, 2013). "Hamid Drake Discography". Restructures.net. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
- ^ "Foday Musa Suso Albums and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
External links
- Foday Musa Suso official site
- Foday Musa Suso page from Other Minds site
- Kora Music from Gambia Album Details at Smithsonian Folkways