A00408 - Foday Musa Suso, Kora Master

 I note with interest the passing of Foday Musa Suso, the great kora master.



Foday Musa Suso, 75, Dies; Ambitious Ambassador for West African Music - The New York Times



With Suso's passing, a great hole has been created in contemporary kora music.  However, on the other hand, I suspect that some great music is being played amongst the ancestors with Suso now joining Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate



Perhaps if you listen closely you can begin to hear the kora jam session that is about to begin.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Class of 1975
July 1, 2025


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 One of the small pleasures in my former life was to turn on The World at 2pm to catch up on World news and one of the highlights of the show would be hearing the familiar guitar riffs from Ali Farka Toure's song "Diaraby" whenever the Geo-quiz segment came on.  As Wikipedia notes,


"his guitar riff on the song "Diaraby", from the album Talking Timbuktu, for the Geo-quiz segment of The World PRI-BBC program, and was retained by popular demand when put to a vote of the listeners.[23] This song is likewise used in 1998 as a soundtrack for the film L'Assedio (Besieged) by the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci

Ali Farka Touré - 'Diaraby' live on BBC Later...with Jools Holland - YouTube


One of Ali Farka Toure's key collaborators during his illustrious career was Toumani Diabate, the Malian Kora master who has been likened to being the Jimi Hendrix of the Kora.
 
Toumani Diabate passed away last month and in my scramble around the Olympics I was not able to recognize his passing.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins 
Fairfield, California
August 13, 2024

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