Kora history

Koran belongs to a West African family of instruments, with reverberation bare basis sees, there is on the Savann that stretches itself from Atlantic Ocean to Mali and Burkina Faso.

Jalikundas founder has its roots in the West African Jali culture, so as it traditionaly occurs in above all Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and other countries. In these countries is a Jali a person that, through her family, inherited both a musical tradition and verbal story preservation telling a tradition. Jali says one in the language Mandinka. But there exists also many other names on the traditional folk musician or the singer. On f.ex. French is such a person called Griot. On Wolof is he or she called Guewel. The most well-known instruments that are played of West African Jalier is stringed instrument such as Kora, Xalam and Riti, and percussion instruments such as Balafon, Sabar, Tama, Kutiro, Djembe and Dundun. Within Jali culture is instrumental musicians predominantly male. Female Jalier sings most often and plays rhythms on bare basis sees. But there exists also women of Jalis family that plays Kora and different types of barrels.

Many of these instruments is hunters harp with different names ­like Donso, Ngoni, Kori, Kon, Sinbi ­ and perhaps has those a common origin in the principle to affix bare basis a barrel on a warrior's or hunters bowe.

The strings extend in two paralell plans over the sides of wood of a bridge. The strings are done of fishing rope in nylon, earlier of twisted hides. The bridgehold rests on a stand wraped in fabric that sits on a hide stretched over bare basis late. The strings are tied on a tunering of leathers that sit around wood a neck that goes through bare basis late. The atmosphere's consequence area is two and a half oktav.

Kora players from Mali uses itself of basis two atmospheres, “Silaba” and “Sauta”, while thay from Gambia be called “Hardino” and “Tomoramesengo”.
Koran is played with both thumbs and other fingers. Now on 2000-number is koran used in Gambia, Mali, Guinea Bissau and southern Senegal (Casamance) where oral traditions backspace right to Mandinka Kabu-empire. I. e. that time when Jeli Madi Wuleng, ancestor to Cissokho and Jobarteh (Diabate) - grioterna, found koran at a beautiful female spirit.

Jeli Madi composed Kelefa, an epos that was told in song accompanyed of kora, to the warrior Kelefa Sane´s honour. Koran is historicallily well-known since 1600-1700-talet.

After the second world war, became the kora well-known in Mali through two young masters, Sidiki Diabate and Jeli Madi Sissoko from Gambia.

Some of those artists that in modern contributes to doing Koran well-known as instruments is Toumani Diabate, Mali, Solo Cissokho, Norway, Tata Dindin, Andreas's Åkesson, Soussou Hagbeth-Gotlow and Lamine Cissokho, Sweden.