Mali. The art of griots of Kela, 1978-2019

Dossier prepared by Madeleine Leclair and Vincent Zanetti

2. The griots of the Mande

Among the Mandenka, the art of the griots, who can be men but also women ("griotes"), is transmitted hereditarily, within large families or lineages.

As the privileged mediator of Mandenka society, the griot is supposed to master the vital (nyama) but potentially dangerous force contained in speech, considered as a living matter. Moreover, in an environment of oral culture where an individual's identity is linked to that of his ancestors, he must be able to trace the genealogy of each family back to his mythical ancestor. His competence is therefore as much a matter of memory as of mastery of the speech.

In the past, griots benefited from generous royal patronage and, from the independence of West African countries, were often the main figures in the national orchestras of their countries, particularly in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and Mali.

3. Return to Kela

Among the West African sound archives that Bernard Mondet donated to MEG in 2018 are three magnetic tapes recorded at Kela in April 1978.

In 2019, Vincent Zanetti returns to Kela, taking with him the music recorded forty years earlier, plus a few photos taken at the same time. Being himself a multi-instrumentalist musician trained at the school of some of the most famous master percussionists in West Africa, and familiar with the griots of this village, his encounter with the musicians recorded in 1978 and their children and grandchildren is under the best auspices. Not only do the old tapes return to the places where they were recorded, but shared listening to these sound archives allows them to be documented, and in particular to specify the full names of the performers. For Kela's griots and griotes, this discovery is also an opportunity to evoke certain key elements of their universe and to perform some pieces from the great traditional repertoires they have inherited.

The music, photos and data presented in the disc Mali. The art of griots of Kela griots, 1978-2019 have been chosen from among these precious documents.

4. The genesis of the album Mali. The art of griots of Kela, 1978-2019

"In February 2006, as part of an artistic project, the dancer Anne-France Brunet and I had the privilege of participating in the creation of a cultural centre in the town of Siby, in the heart of the Malian Mande. For a long time, I have been used to putting my African projects under the protection of local traditional authorities. For this new stage of my African life, I naturally turn first to the venerable brotherhood of traditional hunters, the donsow, guarantors of the oldest identity values of the Mande. But at the same time, for the inauguration of the centre, I appeal to the griots of Kela, a village located about an hour and a half away by car. They are the recognised masters of one of the reference versions of kuma koroba, the famous Malian epic. This is the beginning of a long and privileged relationship."

A few years later, when, as part of a herbalist diploma, Anne-France began research on the medicinal plants of the Mande and became interested in precisely this as yet unstudied part of Kela Bala's heritage, it was quite natural that Mahamadou introduced us to his family in Kela. In the meantime, I myself have been introduced to donoya and it is as donso and donso muso - initiated hunter and hunter's wife - that we find ourselves welcomed by the deans of the Diabaté family, several of whom are also members of the brotherhood.

It is only a few months after our return from this first stay in Kela that Madeleine Leclair, the director of the AIMP, asked me to write the booklet of an album dedicated to the recordings that the entomologist Bernard Mondet made in Bouaké, Ivory Coast, in the 70s. In the middle of the magnetic tapes, there are two that clash. And with good reason: these recordings were made in Kela. The voices heard on them are those of my relatives' parents. In the Mande, we don't believe in chance..."(V. Zanetti).

5. What the griots have to say

To do justice to the point of view of the jeliw (griots), we have chosen to present in the booklet accompanying the disc Mali. The art of griots of Kela, 1978-2019 excerpts from interviews with several of them at Kela. The testimonies of two essential characters are reproduced in the booklet: Jétennémadi Diabaté, chief of the griots (jeli kuntigi) of Kela and Seydou Diabaté, master of the speech (kuma tigi), the only one authorised to recite the Mande epic (kuma koroba, "the ancient words") in its entirety and in its exclusive ritual setting. Their words resonate with the explanations given by two other privileged informants: Amara and Ibrahima Diabaté, who are the sons of Mademba "Racine" Diabaté, a guitarist whom we hear in a 1978 recording released on the record.

One of the interviews conducted with Amara Diabaté is reproduced here in its entirety.

"I come from Kela. My grandfather was the leader of the griots of Kela. Among the centres of influence of African culture, transmitted orally from father to son over several generations, Kela is really a very important village.

Kela is divided into two communities: the griots and the haïdara, who are also called marabouts here.

I come from Kela. When you leave Kela, you can go to Kita, then to Nyagassola, which is a gateway to Guinea. Beyond Nyagassola, you enter the depths of Guinea, where there are griots of the Koné family.

I am very proud to be a jeli of Kela. Because jeliya is very important in our society. At home, in the deep Mande, the role of a griot is that of a mediator. He is the very foundation of the Mande. I'm not saying this to throw flowers at us, but because griots are involved in many things. For example, two real friends cannot quarrel in front of a griot without the griot intervening. The same goes for the husband, the wife and her husband: if they have a problem, you have to make them come to their senses. This is one of the roles of the jeliya.

In dictionaries, griots are said to talk too much. I don't agree with that. Jeli is someone who intervenes in the right direction, who makes people come to their senses.

Even a king who doesn't have a real griot can't rule. The griot is both an adviser and the holder of the memory of historical facts.

In Kurukanfuga, in 1236, it was said that griots should not cultivate the land, nor trade, but should dedicate themselves completely to the unity, the cohesion of the mandenka society. It is they who must intervene if there is a problem.

Today, the art of speech is still being transmitted, but not quite as it used to be. Often today, griots only think about earning money, when in fact it should be secondary. The griot must do his job, fulfil his true role even if he is not paid financially. Of course you can reward a griot and give him gifts, but that's not what you should be thinking about. We have to focus on values and concentrate on the essence of our job.

Today, the masters of the speech are still there, they live well, they master their trade. My father, "Racine" Mademba Diabaté, was the first guitarist in Mande. His father, Bintou Fama Diabaté, was a true master of the speech. The griots came from all the other cultural transmission centres to learn the word from my grandfather. Kele Monzon Diabaté, for example, came from Kita and spent seven years with my grandfather. When my father was a student at the Koranic school, he would come home as soon as possible to hear the word of Bintou Fama. He loved what his father did so much...

But today, we are faced with a problem of the exodus of resources. The attractiveness of the capital is such that when you are in the heart of Mande, if you need a good balafon player, you have to go as far as Bamako or Siguiri to find a professional. If I need a good guitarist to accompany me and I'm in Kela or Siby, I have to go to Bamako to find him. That's what I fear the most. In reality, the most virtuoso traditional instrumentalists are all based in Bamako. Their main concern is to earn a lot of money. Meanwhile, the source is drying up. When I go back to Kela today, all the young instrumentalists are in Bamako. Even if the image that is shown outside is not false and the tradition is really being perpetuated, I know that there is a real problem. Our children start learning music very early, but as soon as one of our children masters his instrument a little, he goes to Bamako and doesn't even have time to continue learning from another musician. We can't blame them! We have to find something to eat. But the most important thing is to live well, to be happy. I don't know how to get my brothers to think about it and go back to the source. In twenty years, in fifteen years even, we'll have a lot of problems.

One solution could be to build a cultural centre. The Malian state, the Ministry of Culture should fight for that, to put the traditions in their own context. But unfortunately this is not the case.

Today, the griots no longer have the same power they once had. Everything is politicised, politicians come and impose things. A politician can impose on me, a griot, to say something that is not true, for his own benefit. He offers me money and takes advantage of the jeliya and the strength of my word to ask me to say something that is not true.

In 2010, the President of the Republic, Amadou Toumani Touré, organised a big celebration of the Kurukan Fuga Charter. It was a very good idea because all the real Mandenka have been thinking about it since 1236. The whole diaspora as well as those in the deep Mande, everyone was happy. But the problem is that time was too short, the jeliw had too little time to express themselves, and the true meaning of the Kurukan Fuga charter, the values that we transmit as jeliw holders of the tradition, were not well promoted".

6. The recording studio

Made more than forty years apart, in 1978 and 2019, the two recording sessions presented in the disc Mali. The art of griots of Kela, 1978-2019 took place in the same setting: the dwelling of Yamudu Diabaté, artist, donso (a member of the brotherhood of hunters) and jeli fameux who died in 1997.

7. Musicians

The recordings of the disc Mali. The art of griots of Kela, 1978-2019 brings together three successive generations of performers and thus constitutes, in the eyes of the dignitaries of this community, a unique testimony of its kind.

The repertoire covered presents a varied panorama of the art of the jeliw: the musical motto (faasa) of a hero from the Mande epic (track 2), a song of praise to an important protective godfather (track 4), an entertainment piece of a more poetic and secular character (track 1) and several pieces borrowed from the heritage of the brotherhood of Mande hunters (tracks 3, 5 and 6), but interpreted according to the codes and aesthetics of the tradition of the mandenka griots.

About twenty musicians took part in the recording.

Guitar and lute

As well as:

Adama "Super" Diabaté (guitar),

Bakari "Espagnol" Diabaté (guitar),

Karunga Fiman Diabaté (koni lute),

Fatma Jemoussa Diabaté (koni lute).

Voice

As well as:

Jétenné Diabaté (solo voice),

Karia Fanta Diabaté (choir and karinian scraper),

Jeminian Diabaté (choir and karinian scraper),

Kajatu Diawara (solo voice),

Mory Muso Diabaté (solo voice),

Jeli Kankumadi Diabaté (spoken voice).

8. To learn more

Mali: les griots Diabaté de Kéla, porteurs dʹhistoire et dʹidentité

Versus-écouter, RTS Espace 2, 21.06.2019 - proposition de Vincent Zanetti, animation de David Colin.

Retrouver le jeune Fama Diabaté en concert en Suisse avec Kala Jula et le Gangbé Brass Band

"3 October 2019, Théâtre du Crochetan, Monthey: around the voice of the young Malian griot Fama Diabaté (14 years old), the Malian guitarist Samba Diabaté and the multi-instrumentalist from Valais Vincent Zanetti reinvent their ensemble Kala Jula. For this transformation, they surround themselves with one of the most formidable brass bands in sub-Saharan Africa, the legendary Gangbé Brass Band. Between jazz and the musical traditions of Mali and Benin, carried by a warm and delighted audience, the artists build jubilant bridges between the Creole cultures of Africa, the West Indies and New Orleans" (extract from the press release).

Listening on SoundCloud

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About a hundred kilometers south-west of Bamako, on the left bank of the Niger River, the Malian village of Kela is known to be home to a large community of griot musicians (jeliw) mostly belonging to the Diabaté family. Their art is recognised throughout West Africa and many griots come from all over the world to stay there, sometimes for several years, in the hope of becoming immersed in it. The six pieces for voice accompanied by guitar or traditional koni lutes were recorded in 1978 (tracks 3 to 6) and in 2019 (tracks 1 to 3), in the same traditional dwelling, which still serves as a "studio". The accompanying booklet contains the testimonies of several important musicians who took part in the recording, and evoke key elements of their universe.

Baala kononi fin, «The small black bird of the river» (extrait plage 3)

Tracklisting

Total duration : 44’06