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Rainer Polak is an ethnomusicologist [1] and djembe drummer who has researched in the field of West African celebration music performances and written in the field of ethnomusicology.
Rainer Polak studied social anthropology, African linguistics, Bambara language, and History of Africa from 1989 to 1996 at Bayreuth University (Germany), and jenbe music performance from 1991 until today in Bamako (Mali). All of his studies and work in Bamako were accomplished with the help of locally and traditionally minded drummers whose playing is presented in his book and the corresponding CD.
Polak worked as a professional jenbe player in Bamako for one year in 1997/98, performing at well over a hundred traditional weddings, spirit possession dances and other celebrations on the basis of being hired by the late Jaraba Jakite, most of the times, and occasionally by the late Yamadu Bani Dunbia, by Jeli Madi Kuyate, and by Drissa Kone. The ethnomusicological dissertation and book he wrote on that experience won the academic prize of the German African Studies Association in 2003/04. Polak ranks as an outstanding jenbe soloist in Germany. As a teacher he has specialized in giving focused classes on micro-timing, and master-classes in jenbe solo performance.
The balafon is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now found across West Africa from Guinea to Mali. Its common name, balafon, is likely a European coinage combining its Mandinka name ߓߟߊ bala with the word ߝߐ߲ fôn 'to speak' or the Greek root phono.
The music of Mali is, like that of most African nations, ethnically diverse, but one influence predominates: that of the ancient Mali Empire of the Mandinka. Mande people make up around 50% of Mali's population; other ethnic groups include the Fula (17%), Gur-speakers 12%, Songhai people (6%), Tuareg and Moors (10%).
A djembe or jembe is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes from the saying "Anke djé, anke bé" which translates to "everyone gather together in peace" and defines the drum's purpose. In the Bambara language, "djé" is the verb for "gather" and "bé" translates as "peace."
The music of Burkina Faso includes the folk music of 60 different ethnic groups. The Mossi people, centrally located around the capital, Ouagadougou, account for 40% of the population while, to the south, Gurunsi, Gurma, Dagaaba and Lobi populations, speaking Gur languages closely related to the Mossi language, extend into the coastal states. In the north and east the Fulani of the Sahel preponderate, while in the south and west the Mande languages are common; Samo, Bissa, Bobo, Senufo and Marka. Burkinabé traditional music has continued to thrive and musical output remains quite diverse. Popular music is mostly in French: Burkina Faso has yet to produce a major pan-African success.
A griot is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician.
Sundiata Keita was a prince and founder of the Mali Empire. He is also the great-uncle of the Malian ruler Mansa Musa, known for being the wealthiest person of all time.
The Rail Band is a Malian band formed in 1970; it was later known as Super Rail Band, Bamako Rail Band or, most comprehensively and formally, Super Rail Band of the Buffet Hotel de la Gare, Bamako.
The Mandé peoples are ethnic groups who are speakers of Mande languages. Various Mandé speaking ethnic groups are found particularly toward the west of West Africa. The Mandé Speaking languages are divided into two primary groups: East Mandé and West Mandé.
Toumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles. In 2006, the London-based newspaper The Independent named Diabaté one of the fifty best African artists.
Mansa is a Maninka and Mandinka word for a hereditary ruler, commonly translated as "king". It is particularly known as the title of the rulers of the Mali Empire, such as Mansa Musa, and in this context is sometimes translated as "emperor". It is also a title held by traditional village rulers, and in this context is translated as "chief".
Soumaoro Kanté was a 13th-century king of the Sosso people. Seizing Koumbi Saleh, the capital of the recently defunct Ghana Empire, Soumaoro Kanté proceeded to conquer several neighboring states, including the Mandinka people in what is now Mali. However, the Mandinka prince Sundiata Keita built a coalition of smaller kingdoms to oppose him at the Battle of Kirina, defeating the Sosso and leaving Sundiata's new Mali Empire dominant in the region.
Kouroussa or Kurussa is a town located in northeastern Guinea, and is the capital of Kouroussa Prefecture. As of 2014 it had a population of 39,611 people. A trade center and river port from at least the time of the Mali Empire, Kouroussa has long relied upon its position near the upstream limit of navigation of the Niger River to make it an important crossroads for people and goods moving between the Guinea coast and the states of the western Soudan and Niger River valley. The town and surrounding area is a center of Malinke culture, and is known for its Djembe drumming tradition.
Heather Maxwell is an American singer-songwriter and radio host for Voice of America. She sings jazz standards and composes original works on piano, kamalen n'goni, balafon, and percussion. Heather produces and hosts the radio and TV program Music Time in Africa for the Voice of America.
Abdoulaye Diabaté is a singer and guitarist who was born to a griot family in Kela, Mali in 1956. He has at least twenty years of experience in contemporary and popular music.
Yamadu Bani Dunbia (1917-2002) was a notable djembe master drummer from Bamako, Mali. Although recordings of his playing are scarce, he was well known across Bamako. He recorded his first songs at the age of 78.
The culture of Mali derives from the shared experience, as a colonial and post-colonial polity, and the interaction of the numerous cultures which make up the Malian people. What is today the nation of Mali was united first in the medieval period as the Mali Empire. While the current state does not include areas in the southwest, and is expanded far to the east and northeast, the dominant roles of the Mandé people is shared by the modern Mali, and the empire from which its name originates from.
Circa 1230s-1600s, the MaliEmpire was created in Western Africa along the Niger River. Often associated with being founded by Sunjata Keita, the history of Mali is extremely based on oral history. The story of the founder of Mali, Sunjata Keita, is largely based on oral history. Oral history may be defined as the preservation and interpretation of historical, cultural or personal experiences by way of a speaker. In Mali, such a speaker can be described as a poet, a storyteller, a praise singer or a musician. A large amount of Mali's history is transferred via oral historians. Such oral historians in Mali are known as griots, Jalis, and Jelis. The origins of oral history in Mali may be traced back to the story of Sunjata Keita. Modern-day oral history in Mali has transformed from the history based griots to a more contemporary musical and negotiator based griots. The current state of oral history in Mali has travelled to other realms like popular culture and politics.
Mamadou Sidiki Diabaté is a prominent Mandé kora player and jeli from Bamako, Mali. He is the 71st generation of kora players in his family and a son to Sidiki Diabaté.
Nahawa Doumbia is a singer from Mali's Wassoulou region.
Kassé Mady Diabaté was a Malian singer, musician and griot. His soft and particular voice with deep undertones – an atypical characteristic for a griot – earned him the nickname "The golden voice of Mali". He is considered, together with Salif Keita, as one of the greatest Mandinka artists of his generation.