Togo - West Africa - page 893

A Potted History of West African Music
The musical history of West Africa is closely linked to its diverse and long-established em-
pires, such as Ghana's (6th to 11th centuries), where court music was played for chiefs,
music accompanied ceremonies and chores, and music was played for pleasure at the end
of the day. In the vast Mali Empire (13th to 15th centuries), music was the province of one
social caste, the jelis, who still perform their folk styles today. Correspondingly in Senegal,
griots - Wolof culture's kora -strumming, praise-singing caste - trace genealogies, recount
epics and span generations. There are myriad musical styles in West Africa, courtesy of its
hundreds of ethnic groups and various Islamic and European influences, but the jeli / griot
tradition is arguably the best known.
Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire all
share the same jeli tradition, though each linguistic group calls it something different and
each has its own subtly different sound. They are acknowledged as oral historians - nearly
all children know the epic of Sundiata Keita, the warrior who founded the Mali Empire -
and often as soothsayers, but, although they top the bill at weddings and naming ceremon-
ies, griots occupy a lowly rank in their hierarchical societies. Many big West African stars
faced parental objections to their choice of career. Others, such as Salif Keita - a direct des-
cendent of Sundiata and, as such, not a jeli - made their reputations in exile.
Oral tradition is equally strong in Nigeria, where stories of ancient Yoruba, Ashanti,
Hausa and other kingdoms flourish. Like many a West African style, Yoruba music has its
roots in percussion. Indeed, if there is any element common to the huge, diverse region that
is West Africa, it is drumming. From the Ewe ensembles of Ghana - similar in style to
those of Benin and Togo - to Senegal's sabar drummers, beating their giant instruments
with sticks, drumming kick-started West Africa's musical heart. Often accompanied by ulu-
lation, vocal repetition, call-and-response vocals and polyrhythms, drums beat out a sound
that immediately says 'Africa'.
As West African music travelled out on the slave ships (and brought other influences
back with it later), so the music of the colonisers travelled in. The Portuguese presence in
Cape Verde created morna, music of separation, and saudade and creole-style gumbe in
Guinea-Bissau. Western-style dance orchestras had the colonial elite fox-trotting on the
Gold Coast. Francophone Africa fell in love with Cuban dance music, a genre, in rhythm
and structure, remarkably close to Mande music. Cuban music (and guitar-based Congolese
rumba) introduced modern instruments to the region, creating a swath of dance bands such
as Guinea's legendary Bembeya Jazz (a signifier of modern music, 'jazz' was commonly
tagged on a band's name), who played local styles with Latin arrangements.