khassonke style

[bubudi]

khasso is a small area in the west of mali around the towns of kayes, bafoulabe and mahina. it is the home of the khassonke people, who also live among the soninke (sarakhole/maraka), moor, kagoro, diawara, bambara and maninka people.



here is a map of the regions in khasso:



the main khassonke dances are:
dansa - communal celebratory dance
semukhengo - dance of nobles
bire - played after circumcision
yamussa - played after female excision
senefolo - farming music
tage - blacksmith dance
domba - leatherworker dance (a.k.a. garankefolo)
jubaliya - dance of the slave caste (a.k.a. diba)
jalifolo - griot music (a.k.a. sandia)
jaura - communal celebratory dance - very old
gundo - very old dance


khassonke musical instruments include:
dundungo - medium sized, slightly elongated dunun made from bumun wood, traditionally covered with deer skin. due to the relative scarcity of deer skin, semi-tanned goat skin is most often used nowadays. the dunun is worn slung over the shoulder and played with a curved stick while the other hand plays a bell (nanga).

jingo - small dunun played without a bell.

tantango - a peg drum made of duguto (dugura) wood and half-tanned bull skin, played with bare hands for weddings, baptisms or the death of a village elder. it is also used to signal danger, or to guide a person home who is lost in the bush. often 2 people play this drum - one with the hands and the other with sticks.

tamandingo (sing. tamo) - tension drums or 'talking' drums played exclusively by griots who place them under the arm in order to change the tension of the skin using pressure from the arm and beat the skin with a curved stick.

tabulo - this bowl-shaped drum made from duguto (dugura) wood and half-tanned bull skin was played with bare hands to announce the death of a king or chief. it can only be found in some villages nowadays.

kontingo - a 4-5 string lute made of hard wood such as dugura, covered with bull skin. the strings were traditionally made from braided horse hair, but fishing wire is easier to replace and is commonly used nowadays. it is played exclusively by griots, who pluck the strings with their fingers.

khirongo - a 1 string lute similar in shape to the kontingo.

simbingo - a 7 string harp lute covered with deer or goat skin played exclusively by musicians initiated into the hunters' society. same as the donsongoni.

bolongo - 4 string harp lute played by slaves for warriors' musicians and traditionally in times of war.

fule - a bamboo transverse flute traditionally played by blacksmiths.

[bubudi]

one of my favourite khassonke videos. group led by moussa kante, playing a medley of rhythms. note the tantango drum.

[bubudi]

here's another by the same group playing dembafoli. this rhythm belongs to another ethnic group in the region: the soninke (sarakhole/maraka). hence djembes are traditionally played here.

[bubudi]

senefolo

[bubudi]

here's a wedding shot in quartier tomikorobougou, in bamako, featuring a lot of khassonke dunun, with great camera work. the musicians and dancers rock! seyba cissoko and ablaye diabate on dunun, dramane keita on solo djembe.

[bubudi]

concert in belgium in 2006 with some of the best khassonke musicians, including: mamadou "le general" diabate (dunun), ibrahima diabate (dunun & n'goni), seyba cissoko (dunun & ngoni), moussa diabate (balafon). ibrahima sarr solos on djembe with brahima coulibaly dancing.

[rachelnguyen]

Bubudi,

What a fantastic collection of videos. Thank you so much for compiling them.

Am I right that the Khassonke dun dun is the same as the djeli dun dun? Or are they different?

[bubudi]

Bubudi,

What a fantastic collection of videos. Thank you so much for compiling them.

Am I right that the Khassonke dun dun is the same as the djeli dun dun? Or are they different?

it's been a long time coming. it took some time until we had enough fans of this style. i've been hooked on it for a few years now.

the khassonke dunun and jelidunun are the same.

[e2c]

It took some time until we had enough fans of the style

Do you mean here, or elsewhere? i think most who post here are very open-minded; I know that I ran across some of these vids on YouTube last year and love them. (I've been kind of tuned in to music from various parts of Mali for a while, though - pop, folkloric and so on.)

Thanks for the thread.

[bubudi]

anybody else studying khassonke rhythms or jelidunun other than rachel?

here's a pic to show y'all how the tantango looks like. it has been suggested that the word tantango is the origin of the french word 'tam-tam' or the english 'tom-tom'.

tantango2.JPG (30.51 KiB) Viewed 1072 times

[8aardav8]

Yes. Me. I desperately want to find people to play this style with. Or at least know who else in this country is interested. I recently returned to the states from my second extended trip to Kayes, Mali, where i was specifically focusing on Khassonka dundun playing. Back here in the States, I find it hard to get many drummers interested in the style. Maybe because they think it's slow and they prefer a higher pitched sound. To me, it's extremely exciting to have found such a juicy style. Probably my favorite music in the world to play.

[rachelnguyen]

I am game. You play the dun dun and I will do the djembe. Then.... switch, LOL.

[bubudi]

I am game. You play the dun dun and I will do the djembe. Then.... switch, LOL.

you're on. see you in kayes

[Dugafola]

I had my first khassonke dun lesson today courtesy of 8aardav8. Did some of the first part of dansa and wolosodon.

Good stuff.

[rachelnguyen]

That is great, Duga!

I have just a bit of Dansa and some Wolosso, which isn't actually a traditional song for the khassonke but it is what we are playing on the djembe, so there you go....

R