Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and the Gambia

by Ears Of The People: Ekonting Songs From Senegal

Overview

One of several traditional West African lutes that served as a precursor to the modern banjo, the ekonting (sometimes spelled akonting) was developed among the Jola people of Senegal and Gambia. Ekontings are made from a hollowed gourd with animal skin stretched over it and a long, wooden neck bearing strings that terminate at different points along it. Throughout its history, it was (and remains) a social instrument, a storyteller's tool used to accompany songs about anything from courtship and death to local wrestling matches. Woven into its long history are the atrocities of the slave trade, which brought remnants of ekonting music to Caribbean and American shores, where enslaved people fashioned new iterations of familiar instruments out of the materials on hand. That it has a contemporary presence at all is a testament not only to the tenacity of its creators but the simplicity of its build and earthy allure of its sound. Released by Smithsonian Folkways, Ears of the People is somehow the first album of ekonting music to be released by a Western label. Despite the prominence of its five-string descendant in American music, the ekonting has remained rather elusive, championed only recently by banjo stars like Bela Fleck and Rhiannon Giddens, though the efforts of a Gambian Jola historian named Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta have helped preserve its tradition. He writes the forward in the delightfully exhaustive booklet of this collection, which features 25 recordings by nine present-day ekonting players, of which he is one. Shepherding the collection to fruition is ethnomusicologist Scott Linford, who recorded the songs in the field and writes in loving detail about the nimble 71-year-old Abdoulaye Diallo, the touring master Jeandum Djibalen, and Elisa Diedhiou, one of the instrument's few female purveyors. Like these musicians, who generally build their own ekontings, each instrument is different in construction, making for a colorful range of personality and tone. Folk music fans may recognize the familiar picking style that was transmitted through the generations to become banjo's clawhammer pattern. But aside from these faint echoes, the songs here are pure Senegambian expression and tell not only stories of the region's past but of its present and future. ~ Timothy Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	02/03/2023
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074060025
Rank:	192281

Tracks

1. Watu Eriring Bee Kaolo  - Musa Diatta  - Paul Dledhiou
2. Ami Kolle/Salymane/Alassane  - Abdoulaye Diallo
3. Mamba Sambou  - Sijam Bukan  - Jules Diatta
4. Colobane Yolooli  - Ejam Kasa  - Adama Sambou
5. Diego  - Sijam Bukan  - Jules Diatta
6. Elenbeja  - Jean "Kangaben" Djibalen
7. Bapaalaay  - Joel Bassene  -  Esukolaal
8. Aline Sitoe  - Elisa Diedhiou
9. Sijam Bukan  - Sijam Bukan  - Jules Diatta
10. Kunaare Kati Gambi  - Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta
11. Aduna Esore  - Bouba Diedhiou
12. Adiatta Ubonketom  - Elisa Diedhiou
13. Ajeme  - Ejam Kasa  - Adama Sambou
14. Celestine  - Musa Diatta
15. Aliinom  - Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta
16. Koriye  - Joel Bassene  -  Esukolaal
17. Ahan Bokin  - Ejam Kasa  - Adama Sambou
18. Asum Bunuk  - Sijam Bukan  - Jules Diatta
19. Kanyalen Rosalie  - Bouba Diedhiou
20. Aguene Diambone  - Ejam Kasa  - Adama Sambou
21. Aliinom (Ballanta)  - Musa Diatta
22. Asunge  - Joel Bassene  -  Esukolaal
23. Inje Mama Oomei?  - Abdoulaye Diallo
24. Madu  - Jean "Kangaben" Djibalen
25. Ayinga Ba¿¿iil Dane Dibuke Ban  - Abdoulaye Diallo

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Bouba Diedhiou   Primary Artist
Jean "Kangaben" Djibalen   Primary Artist
Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta   Primary Artist
Abdoulaye Diallo   Primary Artist
Esukolaal   Primary Artist
Musa Diatta   Primary Artist
Ejam Kasa   Primary Artist
Elisa Diedhiou   Primary Artist
Adama Sambou   Primary Artist
Sijam Bukan   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Scott Linford   Annotation,Liner Notes,Photography,Producer,Engineer,Mixing
John Smith   Executive Producer
Adama Sambou   Composer
Jean "Kangaben" Djibalen   Composer
Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta   Arranger,Annotation,Liner Notes
Bouba Diedhiou   Composer
Elisa Diedhiou   Composer
Musa Diatta   Composer
Abdoulaye Diallo   Composer
Joel Bassene   Arranger,Composer
Jules Diatta   Composer
James Deutsch   Editorial Assistant
Fred Knittle   Production Assistant
Kate Harrington   Production Assistant
Mary Monseur   Production Manager
Toby Dodds   Executive Assistant
Paul Dledhiou   Composer
Pete Reiniger   Mastering
Daniel E. Sheehy   Executive Producer