Kolomalila (Wasulu) Guinea

[bops]

Here's a little video that my wife and I put together for our son's school, documenting part of our visit to Wasulu. Its focus is on the school exchange that we worked on between his school and the school there in Kolomalila, a small village on the Guinea side of the border. (The official Guinean name for the village is actually Bagafea, but the villagers call it Kolomalila. It is not far from Balandugu.) Before leaving for Mali, we compiled a video demonstrating school life in the US, and took it with us to show to the kids there, then did the same for the school in Kolomalila. This is the video that we brought back to show the kids at my son's school.

Sorry, there's only a little tease of drumming in there. But I promise to post the drumming in its entirety sometime in the near future. In the meantime, hope you enjoy this one!

[bubudi]

wow thanks so much for sharing this, bops! those kids were kind of stunned at what they saw happening in america has the school at been able to secure any funding to send any kids from kolomalila over to your son's school?

also, really great job on the filming and video editing! i love that track starting around 1 min in with the kamelengoni layered over the sogonikun rhythm. is that nahawa dumbia singing? also sounds like some ngri being played by the village drummers at the end. interesting that the teacher recognised the rhythm the american kids were dancing to as being similar to one of their local rhythms. coincidentally the song that shakira borrowed to make 'waka waka' is also called zangalewa.

[bops]

Thanks Bubudi, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had fun making it.

those kids were kind of stunned at what they saw happening in america

Yes, their reaction was somewhat different than what I expected. I guess it was a learning experience for me, too.

has the school at been able to secure any funding to send any kids from kolomalila over to your son's school?

That's our long-term goal. It's going to take a lot of work to get to that point, but we've been working with the principal at our son's school, and she seems to be very interested in what we can do in the future with this relationship established. We've been coming up with a lot of ideas of how the "sister school" program can benefit kids in both schools. We all have much to learn from each other.

i love that track starting around 1 min in with the kamelengoni layered over the sogonikun rhythm. is that nahawa dumbia singing?

Yep, that's Nahawa Doumbia's song Sogodounou from the album Diby. It's a good CD, but I prefer the songs like this one with kamale n'goni, jembe, dunun and acoustic guitar. Half of the songs have a really "90s Parisian studio" sound to them; a lot of synths, etc.

also sounds like some ngri being played by the village drummers at the end.

They played a lot of n'gri, especially the women. I have some really nice video of the ladies playing gi dunun and singing songs when we first arrived. I'll post on YouTube sometime soon.

coincidentally the song that shakira borrowed to make 'waka waka' is also called zangalewa.

Actually, you're right - the kids in the Madison video were dancing to the song Waka Waka. There was a guest teacher from Ghana, Nani Agbeli, who taught them singing, dancing and drumming. You may have noticed the teacher in Kolomalila saying "we do music too, but only singing." I found it somewhat ironic that the kids in the US learn drumming and dancing, but they would never consider doing that in villages in Mali and Guinea.

[bubudi]

were they calling the rhythm 'ngri' in kolomalila? it has occurred to me that some villages might have other names for it. looking forward to the ji dunun video when you get the time. i really appreciate your taking the time to share these moments with us.

I found it somewhat ironic that the kids in the US learn drumming and dancing, but they would never consider doing that in villages in Mali and Guinea.

yes, i would expect that due to the social status attached to being a musician in their culture, this wouldn't be a popular move for teachers.

[bops]

were they calling the rhythm 'ngri' in kolomalila? it has occurred to me that some villages might have other names for it.

Actually, I never heard them call the rhythm by name, so I don't know what they call it. I can only assume that they call it n'gri.

yes, i would expect that due to the social status attached to being a musician in their culture, this wouldn't be a popular move for teachers.

That, plus the fact that their "formal" education system is based on the French colonial model of schooling. There are so many challenges that you face when you've got an overflowing classroom with zero resources. Just getting through basic skills is hard enough that there's little or no thought given to extra-curricular activities. But it goes deeper, as you've suggested - they don't value their traditional arts and culture nearly as much as they should, IMO. I believe this is something we've discussed in threads related to Mamady Keita and his trips to Balandugu.

My impression is that families there rely heavily on young people to work in the fields and around the house; to provide for the family. Learning or practicing an instrument would be seen as a distraction, and not a valuable contribution. This is very unfortunate. Eventually I'd like to come up with a program to reward traditional artists who take on young students in the village.

The drummers you see in the video were hired to come from a different village. There are no drummers in Kolomalila. Our friend and host, Joume Diakite, is a donso n'goni player and proud member of the hunters' association. There used to be lions, antelope, and plenty of other game in that region, but they hunted unsustainably for decades, and now there's no more game. There's a serious risk that the same will happen with their music and culture.

[Afoba]

Hey Bops,
very interesting thread! Thank you for posting the little video! There is not so much to find in the net concerning traditional music from this region. So everything you show from this trip is very very welcome!!
Greetings, Daniel

[Kabum]

Great stuff bops! Iniké

This is indeed a great video, the edition is wonderful, the colours are wonderful and you also give us an insight of which people are commonly unaware of. Despite being deeply rooted in the west-african culture, music can be also perceived in less positive, distractive ways. This is a fact that I was not completely aware of (though I am well certain that not all africans are automatically great musicians) and I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Kolomalila is situated far away from any of the musical epicenters of Mali and Guinea. Moreover, could this distance also influence the fact that parents and other family members rely exlcusively on field work, since they are not aware that the younger people could even provide more, if they also dedicated more of their time to an instrument and play it professionally at a later stage? Is Kolomalila outside the ancient Griot routes (although the oral tradition, i.e., is mentioned in the video)? Are there any specific non-musical villages in Guinea and West-africa? If so, why is that the case?...hmm the list of questions could go on and on...It is nevertheless interesting aspect since most of the research done is related to the role of music in communal and daily west-african life.

It was also really good to see you taking your children to a trip like this...i hope to the same one day with mine. Who knows, maybe I will then check on your "Reward traditional artists who take on young students in the village" project ...really like that idea! Whish you all the luck and energy for it!!

@Daniel Afoba, since you have been travelling extensively through Guinea, what is your opinion on the less musical areas? Btw...Tolonba rocked the house in Berlin, your constant dunun variations hypnotized the hell out of me hop eto see you soon again!

take care and drum well
wontanara

[Paul]

Good job mate

[Michel]

Wow Bops, that's great!

We've been to the same area in January, wit Sidiki Camara's workshop in Sanankoroba, it brought back great memories. Everything looks exactly the same. The school, the blackboard with the date written on it, the shy schoolkids full of questions but afraid of asking them and: the teacher that has also so many to ask! The time we were there the whole Sunjata-epic was written on the blackboard, for the history lesson.
I had a great experience with coming to the school with some presents. I also brought some magnifying glasses, and everybody was amazed. I was asked back the other day to do some teaching. The teacher wasn't very clear about what he wanted me to teach, so I told them a story about why it is cold in the Netherlands, and hot in Mali, because of the angle of the sun rays, which brought me to radiation and that gave the possibility to explain how the glasses worked. For me an easy story, but even the teacher was so excited! It gave me a lot of inspiration to go back, it is so easy to do something good for the people in the villages. Good to see people like you who have the same ideas. And it all comes because of the music we make together......

[bops]

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Kolomalila is situated far away from any of the musical epicenters of Mali and Guinea. Moreover, could this distance also influence the fact that parents and other family members rely exlcusively on field work, since they are not aware that the younger people could even provide more, if they also dedicated more of their time to an instrument and play it professionally at a later stage?

On the contrary, in my view Wasulu is actually the musical epicenter. But I understand what you mean. The problem is that the capitol cities are where the money is (what little of it there is). The villages have been experiencing a major "brain drain" for years - where young talent leaves the village for the city, in order to earn a living for their family. There were once more musicians in Kolomalila, but they've left for Bamako, Ivory Coast, or abroad. You just can't earn money as an artist in the village, because there's no money to be had. This is a huge dilemma. Africa is in urgent need of a major economic shift in order to save its cultures. There needs to be a "sustainable" system of patronage for musicians, one that is not dependent on foreigners... this will be difficult. But I think establishing a more immediate system of artist aid/patronage is a good initial step. I hope to connect artists in the village with overseas markets without them having to necessarily leave the village. This is part of my long-term goal.

Is Kolomalila outside the ancient Griot routes (although the oral tradition, i.e., is mentioned in the video)? Are there any specific non-musical villages in Guinea and West-africa? If so, why is that the case?...hmm the list of questions could go on and on...It is nevertheless interesting aspect since most of the research done is related to the role of music in communal and daily west-african life.

I'm not familiar with griot routes. I do know that there are certain villages where many jeli have gone to train, such as Kela. Wasulu is largely inhabited by Fulani though, so jeli music is not their specialty. Typical Wasulu-style music includes donso n'goni, kamale n'goni, jembe & dunun, tambin (flute), soku (violin), guitar. When you're there, you realize that there's no such thing as a non-musical village in West Africa. Even if there aren't skilled musicians living in the village, rhythm is everywhere. Music is everywhere. You can connect the sound of the mortar to the sound of the drum, and suddenly what you've heard all along makes perfect sense - that women created the music to accompany their work, and the men adapted it for drums.

Good to see people like you who have the same ideas. And it all comes because of the music we make together......

Indeed!

[e2c]

Excellent video - and a great beginning for a cultural exchange program!

I'm very much looking forward to hearing more about this, as things progress.

[Paul]

The time we were there the whole Sunjata-epic was written on the blackboard, for the history lesson.

Big blackboard

[Michel]

Bops wrote:

I'm not familiar with griot routes. I do know that there are certain villages where many jeli have gone to train, such as Kela. Wasulu is largely inhabited by Fulani though, so jeli music is not their specialty.

I was told that there are traditionally no jelis in Wassoulou. The female singer that came to the party in Sanankoroba with the drummers did in my opinion the same as jelis do on celebrations: singing and praising. But they didn't call her jeli but 'kono', which is the word for bird in Bamana.

Paul wrote:

Big blackboard

Haha! Of course it wasn't the whole story.