SIAKA SIDIBE' ENSEMBLE
Hunter's harp music from Maili

PAN 2108

713958210826
Pan
Mali

 

The West African hunter's harp is one of the few string instruments that may be played by all men, regardless of their class. Hunter bards sing praise songs for great master hunters and perform long epic stories during the rituals and festivities of hunter's associations. They are similar to the jeli (griots), the hereditary bards of people that trace their origins back to the medieval empire of Mali. In Mali at present two traditions of hunter's harp music coexist. The Wasulu style is played on the donso ngoni. It is found in the Wasulu, a southern region bordering the Ivory Coast. In neighbouring Manden the sinbi is played by the Mandinka hunter bards. Manden is the former centre of the empire of Mali which covers south-western Mali and northern Guinea.