Sona Jobarteh comes from one of the West African griot families in which the kora tradition has been transmitted across generations. Her grandfather Amadu Bansang Jobarteh and cousin Toumani Diabaté belong to that lineage. What makes her position historically unusual is that she became the first woman from such a griot family to establish herself professionally as a kora virtuoso.
Yet I find the instrument itself more interesting than the milestone alone.
A kora combines 21 strings with a calabash resonator and allows melody, bass movement and repeating patterns to exist simultaneously. In the hands of one performer it can sound almost like several musicians negotiating with one another.
Jobarteh also studied Western classical composition, cello, piano and harpsichord. Her work therefore does not fit comfortably inside the idea that preserving tradition means avoiding other musical languages.
Perhaps preservation is strongest when the knowledge is deep enough that change no longer feels like a threat.
