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)...
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Winter 2015
December 01 2015
“To Preserve the Tradition Well”: An Interview with Mamady Keïta, Master Djembefola of the Malinke
Tanya Y. Price
Tanya Y. Price
Tanya Y. Price is Assistant Professor of Social-Cultural Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at North Carolina A&T State University. Her research and teaching interests include West African and African Diaspora cultures, cultural identities, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the politics of race. A lifelong percussionist, she is also a Tam Tam Mandingue Certified Associate Instructor of djembe. typrice@ncat.edu
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Tanya Y. Price
Tanya Y. Price is Assistant Professor of Social-Cultural Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at North Carolina A&T State University. Her research and teaching interests include West African and African Diaspora cultures, cultural identities, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the politics of race. A lifelong percussionist, she is also a Tam Tam Mandingue Certified Associate Instructor of djembe. typrice@ncat.edu
Online Issn: 1937-2108
Print Issn: 0001-9933
© 2015 by the Regents of the University of California.
2015
African Arts (2015) 48 (4): 60–71.
Citation
Tanya Y. Price; “To Preserve the Tradition Well”: An Interview with Mamady Keïta, Master Djembefola of the Malinke. African Arts 2015; 48 (4): 60–71. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/AFAR_a_00254
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