Arts + Culture
The djembe: how a Mande drum became one of the world’s most popular instruments
The djembe, a goblet-shaped drum from the Mande world of West Africa, is played with bare hands and…
Guinea
Arts + Culture
The balafon: the West African xylophone and the legendary Sosso Bala
The balafon, a wooden xylophone with gourd resonators, is one of the oldest instruments of the Mande world.…
Arts + Culture
Les Ballets Africains: the Guinean troupe that brought West African dance to the world’s stages
Les Ballets Africains, founded by Fodéba Keïta in Paris in the early 1950s, became Guinea's national ballet after…
Music
A state orchestra, a sung history of Samory Touré and a tragedy in 1973: Bembeya Jazz National of Guinea
Bembeya Jazz National was formed in 1961 in Beyla, Guinea, and became the country's most popular state-supported band…
Arts + Culture
A Guinean kora player made “Yéké Yéké” a European dance-floor hit in 1988. Mory Kanté’s million seller
Mory Kanté, a griot from Guinea who once sang with the Rail Band of Bamako, released "Yéké Yéké"…