The Festival international Nuits d’Afrique inaugurated its free artistic component on Tuesday on the parterre of the Quartier des spectacles where, until Sunday evening, the musicians will parade on the two fitted out stages. We will see again the Nigerian star Yemi Alade, the Montreal rapper Waahli, the Quebec-Senegalese Ilam, the singer of Brazilian origin Flavia Nascimento as well as a pioneer of Mandinka music: the author, composer and performer Sona Jobarteh, born in Britain from a large family of griots originally from The Gambia, and one of the few female virtuosos of the kora, for whom the education of young women is as important as the music of these African roots.
A great visit than that of Sona Jobarteh, who will certainly charm us with her immaculate playing, her musical vision, certainly rooted in tradition, but quick to free herself from her moorings by sparking conversations with other musical cultures of the African continent. . She also sings beautifully, although she doesn’t quite consider herself a singer: “I open my mouth and sounds come out, but I’m not a real singer, since I haven’t been trained in this art, as I was for the kora. »
How do you distinguish your way of singing from that of “real” singers? “My style is unorthodox. In the tradition, that of Kandia Kouyaté, for example, one of the most celebrated traditional singers, we learn a style, a phrasing, the intonations, the mastery of words and the repertoire. There’s also this whole aspect that I call “spoken word”, this moment with the song where the griot recites proverbs or his genealogy, gives context to the songs, which I don’t master. All of this is taught. Me, I follow no rules and I write my own texts. My singing is a very free and personal expression. »
Released last September Badinyaa Kumoohis most recent album, celebrates the sharing between the cultures of Africa through collaborations with the Senegalese icon Youssou N’Dour, the Malian Ballaké Sissoko, also a kora ace, or the Yemeni singer Ravid Kahalani, from the group Yemen Blues.
“Badinyaa means, very broadly, ‘unity’ in Mandingo, a word that I use as a metaphor for the importance of the mother figure in Mandingo culture and this unity that the woman embodies, in the family as in the society. Then, Kumoo means “words”. The title refers to a Mandinka proverb whose meaning is in line with the message of the album: to create the changes I want in society, more than words, you need action. »
lead by example
To this end, Sona Jobarteh leads by example: the musician, who has been studying the kora since the age of four, trained among others at the prestigious Royal College of Music, founded the Gambia Academy a few years ago, described as the first Gambian institution whose aim is “to educate young Africans about their culture, their traditions, their history alongside their daily academic education”.
“I do my little part, comments the musician modestly. Progress requires a collective effort, and my small role in all of this, a role that I take seriously, touches on education: I want the next generations of Africans to have the chance to see themselves as equal to anyone what other youngster on the planet. We must of course create more wealth on the African continent, but above all, we must give confidence to young people, and the role of education is crucial in the development of the continent. »
Music is one of the subjects taught at the academy run by Sona Jobarteh. It is taught to young men as well as young women, for whom the Gambian, one of the rare (the only?) women recognized as virtuosos of the kora (her cousin is none other than the Malian master Toumani Diabaté — note the consonance between her last name and that of Sona Jobarteh), embodies their right to occupy a non-traditionally feminine role.
We guess, Sona Jobarteh, that you are getting fed up with being questioned about the fact that you are a woman playing an instrument traditionally reserved for men. “The simple answer: yes! she said with a burst of laughter. But the real question is in my opinion more complex: we must both respect tradition, but also understand how it can have a positive influence on the next generation. The important thing is that I can serve as a model for young women, that I give them the confidence so that they too can challenge the norms. But you’re right: having to answer for the thousandth time the question of how I feel about being a woman… In truth, I don’t feel anything! I am no different from other kora players. Rather, you have to ask yourself what impact my presence on the stage has in the history of this instrument, and how to include the new generation in this history, which I hope to accomplish with the academy. »
What is interesting is that this question also addresses a form of discrimination in the Mandinka musical tradition which, more broadly, does not only have to do with sex: can we admit that a kora player, as talented as he may be, does he not descend from a line of famous griots like the Jobarteh/Diabaté family?
“I am happy that you raised this question, answers Sona Jobarteh first. In the particular context of our tradition, where women are marginalized because they play an instrument, there are historical reasons. Now, we have to assess whether they are still relevant in this society that has changed a lot. We must recognize that women can have a role to play in the transmission of our traditions, and in the same way, that people who are not from the great families of griots can also find their place. The name of my own family is so important that I was able to access this function of kora player, but if I had not come from this family, it would have been difficult — it is even more difficult for a no -griot than for a woman to play the kora. The most important thing is to encourage non-griots to become musicians and keep our traditions alive. »
Sona Jobarteh will be in concert on July 20, 9:30 p.m., on the parterre of the Quartier des Spectacles, as part of the free program of the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique.