#west african kora

[greeneteens]

Here’s your chance to learn a few new facts about an ancient instrument!

#west african kora #friends of the library #checkoutSGCL

[postcard-from-the-past]

A griot (West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and musician) playing on Kora instrument

French vintage postcard

#vintage #tarjeta #historian #briefkaart #instrument #west #postcard #photography #poet #postal #carte postale #playing #west african #sepia #ephemera #singer #musician #african #historic #praise #french #ansichtskarte #kora #postkarte #storyteller #griot #postkaart #photo

[carolina-old-line]

Plucked string instruments (3) Zitera, Kora, Valiha

#kora #Zitera #Valiha #Madagascar #string instrument #music #musical instruments #african music #west Africa

[panafrocore]

The Kora: A Unique Stringed Instrument of West Africa

The kora is a fascinating and deeply resonant instrument that holds a special place in the musical culture of West Africa. With its origins rooted in tradition, the kora’s design and sound have captivated audiences around the world. Crafted from a gourd cut in half and covered with cow skin, the kora’s resonator produces a rich, warm tone that is characteristic of West African music. The long…

View On WordPress

#African History #African music instruments #African Stringed Instrument #The Kora #West African #West African history

[genalove1]

Hey has anyone played the Kora?

Did you know it’s a West African instrument and it’s one of the most challenging instruments to be played.

Anyway check out Kelechi’s art on his page for more his great artwork. Support him ya

Source: https://kelechicanvasart.com

#west africa #kora #mandinka #storytelling #brown skin #queen #viral #home art #wall decor #wall african #wall art #looking for artist #art search

[samsdisneydiary]

Kora Tinga Tinga | Walt Disney World | Animal Kingdom | African Kora | 2022 | African Music

Kora Tinga Tinga | Walt Disney World | Animal Kingdom | African Kora | 2022 | African Music

View On WordPress

#kilimanjaro #animal kingdom vlog #Disneyland #african music #Walt Disney World #kora music #Disney #kora tinga tinga #Animal Kingdom #kora #Disney Parks #africa #Disney Music #harambe #Disney World #african #disney&039;s animal kingdom #world music #disneyvacation #west african music #music #animal kingdom africa #disney animal kingdom #african musical instruments #animal kingdom disney world #west african kora #walt disney world 2022 #live entertianment #Animal Kingdom 2022 #africa street music

[adapokib]

Here she is!! In all her glory, Akicita! (name meaning 'warrior' in Sioux or Dakota)

for context: This is one of 3 of my Natlan Genshin OCs!

For Akis design I leaned more into the west African fashion sense, with heavier, structured, "draping", fabrics. these characteristics molded with an anime fantasy style and boom, her outfit.

I did look at Murata from Honkai 3rd, because that's the name of the archon of Natlan, but I used her for Inspiration for my other OC Itzel.

I also kept in mind the teaser character for Natlan, so that my OCs could stand next to her and not look weird, looking at the shapes, colours and overall vibe.

In all the designs I made sure to add feathers, because in Aztec culture (which I also looked a lot into for these designs) feathers are shown a lot to represent abundance, riches and power, also the teaser character also had them.

A lot of genshin characters take partial inspiration from real life or in game Deities, like Cyno, or Nilou. I wanted to also look into this for Aki and the rest. I looked into both Aztec and West African mythos for Deities of war or fire and found a few.

in Aztec culture I found Huitzilopochtli, the God of the sun and war, but I was more drawn to Ta Kora the West African the Abosom (or lesser God) of war and strife.

It is said that crocodiles are said to be his messengers of evil or bad news, and he has a few other reptilian symbols, and that's close enough to dragon, right?

Ta Kora is the Abosom of war, however he is depicted usually as being peace seeking, however is ruthless to those who disregard his mercy.

this and a few other bits and pieces I took to form Akicita.

when it comes to her actual personality, she very much loves her nation, she enjoys a fight. she is very powerful.

unlike her inspiration, Ta Kora, she is not quite as merciful, but just as ruthless. Aki does not hesitate to team up with people, but she is far less hesitant to turn her back on those just as quick usually to serve her own benefit. she always wins because she doesn't pick a fight, she knows she won't win, not that there's many she wouldn't win against.

we don't know a lot about the lore of Natlan, and Akicita is probably going to go through a couple changes after release, but for now she is one of Muratas followers however isn't very loyal.

Ta Kana has a rivalry with Owuo the Abosom of death, likewise Akicita is an enemy to death. "It would be dishonorable to die during battle, so you should live so we can keep fighting" -type.

on the front of her skirt, thing, is an Adinkra symbol, used typically in Ghana that represent concepts. I of course I picked one out for each of my OCs.

Akicitas Adinkra symbol is 'FuntunFunefu Denkyenfunefu' the Siamese crocodiles, "they share a stomach but when the get food, the strive over it". Which I feel fits with Akis character well, she doesn't need to fight or betray, but she chooses to, because she can, even if it goes against her goals.

There's more, but I'll leave it here for now...

Up next is Itzel!! pray I don't get artblock... please.. I'm on such a roll.

Thank you so much for reading to the end!!!!

#genshin oc #character design #artists on tumblr #oc art #original character #african mythology #infodump

[depressedraisin]

song diaries: damon albarn edition

i thought i'd wait until the end of this week to do this weekly library entry for the music i've been checking out, but you know what? fuck it let's to it today, i've just got too much to say.

so this week i've been on a damon albarn discography expedition. listening to the ballad of darren over and over for like a month and consuming hours worth of concert and interview content has clearly broken something in my brain and this old geezer's music is my new hyperfixation. not complaining though cause there's just SO MUCH. there's like five lifetime's worth of music he's put out in 40 years give or take, and i can't think of one genre he hasn't dipped his toes into. also he's worked with so many SO MANY amazing musicians and artists!!!!! which is always so cool so many new people to discover and get obsessed with <3

now blur and gorillaz on their own are pretty much lifetime achievements but albarn also has such rich body of work outside them as well. i've kinda been familiar with those two for years, my recent forage has mainly been into his non-blur, non-gorillaz music.

here are some highlights i need y'all to be obsessed with just as much as i am:

The Moon Exalted (from the opera Dr Dee, 2011)

did u know damon albarn is an composer of operas as well?! i had no idea! a couple days back i heard him mention working on orchestrating one of goethe's unfinished librettos and i, of course had a very Normal reaction to that. (my obsession with classical music might be sleeping but never dead) so i went checking and learnt he already has 3 opera compositions under his belt. woah.

anyway this piece/song is from the 2011 production dr. dee: based on the life story of some elizabethan magic dude. there's a bunch of traditional elizabethan folk instruments- viola de gamba, lute, shawm, recorder etc etc, the wonderful kora (malian instrument, a blend of lute and harp), the harmonium (literally never saw harmonium being used in any music from the west lol im bengali so i get terribly excited abt this) and the iconic, the legendary tony fucking allen featured on this. the vibes are more folksy, earthy than renaissance-lite which i find pretty cool.

the moon exalted is such a lovely, lovely song though. one of the prettiest things albarn's ever written probably. the kora interlude makes me sob like a baby every single time.

check out this live from his solo concert at the globe theatre:

Go Back (feature on Tony Allen's album Film of Life)

legendary drummer tony allen (i've been listening to afrobeat a bit as well, that's for another day) and albarn has had a long working relationship and friendship. they've worked together on gorillaz, they were in two supergroups together, they worked extensively to champion western african music.

this track is a personal favourite already. wonderful afrobeat elements and tony's distinctive style coupled with some solid jazz keyboard-ing from albarn.

this performance tribute to tony allen makes my heart especially ache (he sadly passed away in 2020). albarn's talked a lot about how much allen meant to him, as a collaborator, mentor and friend, and it's all quite emotional.

This Is A Low (live from Shakespeare's Globe)

listen listen listen i said no blur- but. you gotta listen to this version of this is a low (from Parklife, 1994). he plays quite a bit of blur on the piano for his solo shows but they are kinda a hit or miss tbh. but this one works. for this 2021 solo concert albarn introduced a discordant piano solo in place of graham coxon's rather iconic guitar solo. and omfg it came outta nowhere and hit me straight in the face i love it so much

(don't tell anyone but ipreferthepianosolo)

The Nearer The Fountain More Pure The Stream Flows (from The Nearer The Fountain More Pure The Stream Flows, 2021)

damon albarn has two Solo ™ albums and the second, and lastest, one of these is the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows released in 2021. initially starting out some sort of an orchestral piece inspired by the changing scenery outside the window of his home in albarn, it eventually ended up becoming this set of very melancholic and intimate set of songs. about so many things: loneliness and our changing relationship with nature and anxiety over life etc etc. post-pandemic feels basically.

it's a deeply emotional listening experience, with sweeping strings at places and gentle piano in others. quite a good showcase of albarn's pianowork imho (u see a pattern here right?). my fav out of them is the title track. the name comes from a john clare poem and it's absolutely stunning.

Mr. Tembo and The Selfish Giant (from Everyday Robots, 2014)

albarn's first solo record, everyday robots of 2014, is up there are one of his best works in my books. it's a set of autobiographical songs inspired by various moments in his life, with elements of triphop, folk and electronica and general themes of isolation and nature/technology etc: which are such quintessentially damon albarn, y'know?

mr. tembo is a adorable lil folksy song about this orphaned baby element he met in tanzania. aaaaannnnd, it features a gospel choir because mr. tembo grew up take care of by forest rangers who listened to a lot of gospel radio. cute.

speaking of the selfish giant........oooffff. big ooooffff. such a gut punching song, goodness. like when i heard the line "it's hard to be a lover when the tv's on" it knocked me out of service for a while.

Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks cover with Ray Charles, somewhere in the late 90s)

this one's quite a legendary performance. in the early blur days, damon albarn was often talked of as like a successor to sir ray davies, he of the kinks fame and witty observational character studies of english life.

this performance of them duetting the iconic the kinks song waterloo sunset was a passing of the baton moment of sorts. and when davies breaks into parklife in the end- all the feels, man, all the feels.

Mali Music (2002 album)

written in collaboration with afel bocoum, toumani diabaté & friends featuring ko kan ko sata, this album explores- you guessed it- music from mali. now i know next to nothing about mali or west african music really so i'm gonna be using this album as a reference point to learn and research more.

Poison Tree (from the 2018 The Good The Bad And The Queen album, Merrie Land)

the good the bad and the queen is 100% for sure one of the most underrated supergroups ever. i mean paul simonon (the clash), simon tong (the verve), tony allen and albarn- can you imagine the sheer level of awesomeness?!

they have two albums, and it's unlikely they'll ever have another. poison tree from their second album is perhaps my fav tgtb&tq song. merrie land was written about and as a reaction to brexit, and there's feelings of farewell and isolation and desolation prominent throughout. but poison tree also reminds me strongly of blur songs like battery in your leg and sweet song and no distance left to run. so yeah, emo hours.

(*for those uninitiated in blur lore the first two songs albarn wrote for/about graham coxon when he left the band in 2003, and the latter was written about his breakup with justine frischmann in 1998)

On Melancholy Hill (live from Matera, 2019)

blur got a cheat entry, so to balance things out, gorillaz gets one as well. on melancholy hill is a heartbreakingly tender song as it is but solo piano version makes it heartbreaking-lier and tender-er *sniffles*

#otify #Youtube #damon albarn #blur #gorillaz #the good the bad and the queen #song diaries #send me recs if y'all have them!!!

[readyforevolution]

A DAUGHTER OF THE AFRICAN SOIL FROM GAMBIA,THE FIRST GRIOT’S DAUGHTER TO PLAY KORA.

Sona Jobarteh (born 1983 is a Gambian multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer. She is from one of the five principal kora-playing griot families of West Africa, and is the first female professional kora player,to come from a griot family. She is the cousin of the celebrated kora player Toumani Diabate, and is the sister of the diaspora kora player Tunde Jegede.

#blacktumblr #sona jobarteh

[ladychlo]

what’s ur favorite abnormal instrument? (like a theremin or like kalimba)

Omg yessssss! Okay idk if it's strange but Kora, its a west African instrument and it makes the prettiest sound

[deusinabsentiaa]

Highlights of the train ride:

• Seeing a dolphin jump in the water when we were passing the California coastline

• Seeing hawks flying off cliffs next to our train

• Seeing bald eagles flying over lakes as we passed through some national parks in Oregon

• A passenger playing a Kora (a West African stringed instrument) in the observation car

• Meeting and connecting with other trans and autistic folks on the train over breakfast and lunch in the dinning car

#Travis talks #Travis travels #Travis loves nature #Travis loves trains

[artistbookings]

Julian - African Instruments

Join Julian for a melodic and rhythmic journey as he voyages through traditional sounds of music from North-Western Africa with a modern influence. The seasoned producer and musician fuses traditional folkloric African music together with contemporary influences and modern production. 

Julian’s journey began with a pursuit to master the craft of African percussion playing and instrument making for which he extensively travelled West Africa in Guinea, Senegal and Morocco, studying with some of Africa’s most respected masters. As a child he was taken under the wing of master drummers and griots. He further honed his craft by training and studying with members of Percussion de Guinea as well as the internationally acclaimed Ballet Africans and the infamous djembe group ‘Bocka Juniors.’ Julian has extensively studied the instrument making traditional instruments such a Kamel N'goni Djembe, Dundunba, Kora, Balafon, Guembri. 

Instrumentation: African Instruments, Drums, N’Goni

Music Genre: Reggae, Dub, Electronica, Jazz

Size: Solo

Buy Music: Spotify

Hire For: Parties, Corporate Functions, Events

Covered by the Artist Bookings 100% reschedule/replace/refund guarantee

#Jazz #Electronica #Dub #Reggae #N’Goni #Drums #African Instruments #Events #Corporate Functions #Parties

[clairelsonao3]

8 + 18!

Wow, that was efficient! Thanks @i-can-even-burn-salad, @whumplr-reader and @writingkate for giving me a chance to slack off on my looming work deadline by talking about whump! If there's a better excuse, I haven't heard it! (And it was all different questions, too; it was like you all coordinated!)

Question from linked ask game from @whumper-dumps.

For @i-can-even-burn-salad:

8. Opinion on whump without a whumper? Ex: Whumpee falling into an ice-cold river and getting hypothermia.

Definitely not my favorite type. I was actually never that big on survival-in-the-wilderness (or survival-in-an-urban-hellscape) stories in general. Plus my favorite whumpy implements (chains, shackles, cages, etc.) are all manmade, so you pretty much need a whumper for that.

18. Do you prefer visual whump or written whump? Any reason why?

That's tough but I'd give the edge to written whump, because I'm a writer after all. They're both good, but the visual stuff usually has to have some kind of connection to something written. What for sure does nothing for me is clips/gifsets from random movies/shows I haven't seen featuring characters being whumped. I have no emotional connection to it. I'd have to sit down and actually watch the whole thing from start to finish.

For @whumplr-reader:

3. Least favourite type of whump?

The first one that comes to mind is vampires keeping humans as so-called bloodbags. I'm not super squicky about blood, normally, but that really pushes the limit. I'm actually not that big of a fan of whump involving vampires/werewolves/angels/fairies/supernatural creatures in general. No particular reason, just never saw the appeal.

4. What do you wish you saw more in this community?

Whumpees being forced to do hard physical labor and/or perform demeaning tasks/chores as punishment (or just in general!) I mean, it seems obvious but I see it so rarely. Seriously, if someone wrote a story involving this and tagged me you'd automatically be my new favorite person. Just saying!

For @writingkate:

2. What is your favourite type of whump?

Broadly, anything involving humiliation and/or dehumanization, whether emotional or physical or both.

6. Do you listen to anything while writing/drawing whump? If it’s music, what genre do you typically listen to?

I listen to music pretty much all day, every day, ranging from '60s psychedelic folk to '50s piano jazz to reggae to country to West African kora to '90s alternative rock to ambient beats to ... there's probably not a single genre I haven't written something whumpy while listening to.

7. Emotional or physical whump?

I'd give the edge to emotional, but the best is when the physical feeds the emotional, i.e., when a whumper plays upon a whumpee's precise emotional trauma/insecurities, then goes in for the physical "kill," so to speak.

Thank you so much for the asks, everyone! :gets back to work:

#ask game #whump #whump writing #whumpy

[leaarong]

Playing the complex West African instrument called the kora | 60 Minutes

#youtube

[zhanteimi]

Solo Cissokho & Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė – Solo & Indre

Solo Cissokho & Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė – Solo & Indre

Senegal / Lithuania, 2015, Mande music / Lithuanian folk This collaboration is nothing short of magic, and according to the press release, this is the first time the kora (a west African stringed instrument) and the kanklės (a Baltic box zither) have been recorded together. And my goodness, it’s like they were made to play together. Cissokho and Jurgelevičiūtė wield their respective instruments…

View On WordPress

#2015 #lithuania #lithuanian folk #mande music #senegal

[sinceileftyoublog]

Les Amazones d’Afrique Album Review: Musow Danse

(Real World)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

On their 3rd album Musow Danse, supergroup Les Amazones d'Afrique hook up with legendary producer Jacknife Lee and delve into wider swaths of music of the African diaspora. What started as the collective (of shifting membership) playing the kora as a message of metaphorical defiance against traditional West African music-based gender roles, is now something that finds its power in more contemporary styles. Their voices and statements of solidarity blend swimmingly with rubbery synths, syncopated handclaps, skittering arpeggios, and hip hop drums.

Yes, Musow Danse features everything you loved in the first place about Les Amazones d'Afrique, from pure funk to their mind-boggling ability to bounce between multiple languages on one song. But this time around, each song feels like its own composition that can stand alone just as well as it ties in with the other songs on the record. The two that feature the majority of the group are immediate standouts. The opening title track presents the vocals of Fafa Ruffino, Mamani Keïta, Kandy Guira, and Dobet Gnahoré, chanting in unison, "Rise up, African woman" and expelling vocal trills, against a driving beat and panning distortion. "Kuma Fo (What They Say)", meanwhile, sports a similar mix between the tactile and the atmospheric, hand percussion rolling alongside meaty hip hop beats and screeching synthesizers. "Flaws" is already one of the best pure pop songs of 2024, Keïta and Ruffino paying tribute to the imperfections that make us ourselves, alongside some club-ready 808s. And new member Alvie Bitemo shows off her vocal range on "Mother Murakoze" and "Amahoro (Don't Get Angry"), intense and throaty in comparison to the abstract, glassy synthesizers and upbeat drumline snares.

In speaking about Musow Danse, Ruffino mentioned that Lee, despite not knowing the various languages sung on the album, was able to feel the spirit of the words. Though it's likely impossible for the average listener to hold a similarly intimate connection, experiencing the record is still an exercise in deep listening, an appreciation of contrast not just as a sonic tool but as an emphasis on the innate worth of each individual voice. On album closer "Bobo Me", Nneka's atmospheric falsetto nestles between the depth of Keïta's stop-starts. Gnahoré's upfront vocal subsumes the circular rhythms of "Kiss Me" and the deliberate, yet shifting tempo of "My Place". With Les Amazones d'Afrique, there's room for it all, the bigger the tent, the more powerful the music.

#album review #les amazones d'afrique #musow danse #real world #real world records #jacknife lee #fafa ruffino #mamani keïta #kandy guira #dobet ghanoré #alvie bitemo #nneka