“To Preserve the Tradition Well”: An Interview with Mamady Keïta, Master Djembefola of the Malinke

Mamady Keïta, master djembefola (djembe player, literally one “who makes the djembe speak,” in the Malinke language) was born in 1950 in Djomawgna Balandugu, a small village in northeast Guinea located twenty kilometers from the Mali border. According to Mamady, Balandugu was founded by his great-great-great-grandfather Nankababa (“Big Nankaba,” or the first Nankaba)¹ and occupied primarily by extended family members until recently, as the village has grown. Keïta has spent a substantial portion of his life maintaining and protecting the traditions of his Malinke ethnic group. The Malinke culture flourished and spread during the old Mali Empire, reaching its height in the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries; however, the culture has roots existing long before the consolidation of that empire (Charry 2000:2–3). Malinke are noted for their energetic dance traditions, usually accompanied by the dynamic rhythms of the djembe (a hand drum shaped like an upside-down mortar)...