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| Dembo Konteh & Kausu Kuyateh. |
 Dembo Konteh is a korafolá A korafolá is a kora player in
mandinka (who is able to make the kora talk) - korafolálu, plural. and singer from Brikama, Gambia. He comes from a griot family including some of the world most
reknowned korafolálu A korafolá is a kora player in mandinka (who is able to make the kora talk) - korafolálu, plural.. His
father is Alhaji Bai KontehAlhaji Bai Konte was a very famous korafolá in Gambia, like Jali Nyama Suso. His legacy is so great..., one of the first griot to popularize kora music in America with his album Kora Melodies from the Gambia, (Rounder records) ; Alhaji Bai KontehAlhaji Bai Konte was a very famous korafolá in Gambia, like Jali Nyama Suso. His legacy is so great... has been the initiator of a new style of kora playing, known in Gambia as “yeyengo” 
Konte lives in Brikama, in an area of Gambia noted for its musical traditions. He has played and recorded with Malamino
Jobarteh. He has also played and recorded with Kausu Kuyateh, creating one of the most famous korafolálu A korafolá is a kora player in
mandinka (who is able to make the kora talk) - korafolálu, plural. duet of the West Africa.
Konte and Kuyateh have increased the kora playing to a high new level, modifying their
instruments to expand the kora's range by adding extra bass strings to the classic 21 string harp-like instrument. Roots World describes the interplay of the two musicians as « fascinating, as
they twist and turn around the melody, fighting against each other and then suddenly forming a unison that shimmers up and down a scale before parting ways again. » Their repertoire includes Mama MannehMama Manneh was composed in the 1970s by the famous korafolá Mori Jali Suso, in honour of a young woman of the illustrious family of Manneh... Read more., a rolling dance tune from the Wolof tradition and Saliya (Literally, « Kuruntu Kelefa » means « Kelefa trailed on his chariot ». Indeed, history said that the horses of Kelefa Saneh were trained to move on the rhythm of that song...Read more.Kuruntu Kelefa), one of the oldest songs written for the kora.
Since 1987, they have toured worldwide and their albums have been acclaimed as the most accessible from this tradition. In
1998 journalist and World Music proponent Charlie Gillett stated « Nothing is ever quite the same after the first time you hear a kora played live in a West African setting. Dembo Konte was the
musician who opened my ears, and he made these recordings with Kausu Kuyateh soon afterwards. They still sound powerful and raw, evocative and timeless. »
Usually performing as a duo, Konte and Kuyateh (from Senegal) have also collaborated with British musicians to create a
fusion of West African and western musical styles, retaining the kora and their voices as the primary centres of attention. In 1989 they toured the UK and, on 5 September recorded a session for the
John Peel show on BBC radio. They also collaborated that year with Hijaz, Houzam, and Sabah Habas from Mustaphas 3. The main feature of the resultant album (Jali Roll)
is the duo's vocals and kora, but once John Kirkpatrick's button accordion comes in, it creates a mood which belongs to neither Europe nor Africa. This album was chosen by British music magazines Q
and Vox for World Music Album of the Year. When re-issued in 2001, a live track from their London show in 1989 was added. Today, it is definitely one for heavy rotation, on my own opinion.
On the album Jaliology the duo is joined by Mawdo Suso playing balafon, a traditional rosewood instrument resembling a xylophone.
Today, his son Jali Bakary Konteh, is proudly walking on this footsteps.
 Genealogy of
the famous korafolálu
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Alhaji Bai KontéAlhaji Bai Konté fut un korafolá très célèbre en Gambie, à l'instar de Jali Nyama Suso, quoique
moins populaire et moins connu à l'étranger. Son héritage n'en demeure pas moins immense car il fut l'initiateur d'un nouveau style de jeu à la kora, en Gambie, le style yeyengo... Lire la
suite., Dembo Konteh & Malamine Jobarteh, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, © LP 1979 Folkways Records FW8514 |
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Dembo Konteh & Malamine Jobarteh, Jaliya, © 1985 Sterns Records |
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Dembo Konteh & Malamine Jobarteh, Baatoto, © 1987 World Records Series |
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Dembo Konteh & Malamine Jobarteh, Kairaba Jabi, © 1987 - reissued © 1998 Weekend Beatnik |
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Dembo Konteh & Kausu Kuyateh, Jali Roll, © 1989 World Records Series |
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[retour] 
Alhaji Bai Konté fut un korafolá très célèbre en Gambie. Son héritage est immense car il fut l'initiateur d'un nouveau style de jeu à la kora, en Gambie, le style yeyengo... Lire la suite.
