Rokia Traore – "Sabali" (Beautiful African Song & Slide Show)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a song by Rokia Traoré and a slide show of photographs that are included in a YouTube "video" of that song. Unfortunately, the photographer's name is not given in the video summary or in the video's comment section.

A transcription of "Sabali" which was posted by a commenter to this video is included in this post. Several additional comments from that viewer comment thread are also included in this post for informational reasons.

The content of this post is presented for educational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

WARNING: For those who might want to share this photo collage in schools, please be aware that towards the end of this video, there is a photograph of a young woman whose chest is unclothed.

INFORMATION ABOUT ROKIA TRAORE
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokia_Traor%C3%A9
"Rokia Traoré (born January 26, 1974) is a Victoires de la Musique award-winning Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Mali as a member of the Bambara ethnic group, her father was a diplomat and she travelled widely in her youth. She visited such countries as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium and was exposed to a wide variety of influences. Her hometown of Kolokani is in the northwestern part of Mali's Koulikoro region.

While the Bamana have a tradition of griot performing at weddings, members of the nobility, such as Rokia, are discouraged from performing as musicians. Rokia attended lycée in Mali while her father was stationed in Brussels and started performing publicly as a university student in Bamako. Unusually for a female musician in Africa, Rokia plays acoustic guitar as well as sings, and she uses vocal harmonies in her arrangements which are rare in Malian music. In 1997, she linked with Mali musician Ali Farka Touré which raised her profile. She won an Radio France Internationale prize as "African Discovery" of 1997, an honor previously won by Mali's Habib Koité in 1993. As well as guitar she plays ngoni (lute) and balafon"...
-snip-
Here's a quote from an uploader of another Rokia Traoré video:
"Rokia Traoré is a Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Rokia sings with only simple accompaniment. And whether fast or slow, exuberant or plangent, she communicates with a profound intensity that is both admirable and astounding.
What Rokia does with her voice is often subtle — a graceful glissando, a slight vibrato here, a held note that grows in volume, or there she toughens the sound to express fierce determination. Plain beauty."
-evilupus,Rokia Traore - M'bifo ( Thank You )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ob4bUq8BOo

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NOTE ON THE PHOTOGRAPHER
One photograph in the slide presentation that accompanies this sound file is of a White male surrounded by children. The man has a professional camera around his neck. Presumably, he is responsible for these stunning photographs.

I'm sorry that I can't include his name, but I've added a comment to this video's viewer comment thread informing people about this post, and asking for the name of the photographer. If I receive a response, I will add that name to this post.

FEATURED VIDEO
Rokia Traore – Sabali



Uploaded on Dec 7, 2009

Rokia Traores song Sabali,
along with a beautiful slideshow of africa and its people.

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TRANSCRIBED LYRICS & OTHER VIEWER COMMENTS
From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92ahok3oy6Q

All comments are from 2012.

"Sabali sabali sabali yonkonte" refers to "wisdom" repeated thrice [sabali means wisdom]. The phrase carries the connotation similar to "reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic" will bring wisdom to you. The imperative "yonkonte" is stated as emphasis and means something like, "do it, as I say to you". Kind of like, "Do you get it?"
Sabali sabali sabali yonkontê - patience, patience is worth everything
Sabali sabali sabali Kayi - patince, patience is good
ni kêra môgô - when you love someone."
-solulacia

**
"This is such a beautiful composition and the photographs are quite stunning, too. I love Rokia's voice. Thank you so much for sharing this one."
-thedeeliciousplum

**
Beautiful pictures! really beautiful!
I Just wish you could have shown more pictures of west Africa.
This music is from west Africa (Mali) but you mixed a lot of pictures from east Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya...)
-bichonn

**
Reply to bichonn

"Pictures were also from southern Africa, Angola. I seen a lot of Himba in there. While a nice display of Africa, agree since Rokia is from Mali, more pics like the Djenne Mosque , fishermen on the Niger river , and some Bamako, Timboutou pics would have done better. Still great vid. West africans do have the best clothing, sells good in here in East Africa."
-chrise9172

**
"So much beauty, it hurts"
- Sam Berghuis 5 months ago

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Rokia Traoré and the uncredited photographer of these photographers for their creativity & skills. Thanks also to the commenters who are quoted in this post, including the transcriber of the song lyrics. My thanks also to the uploader of this sound file and slide show.

Thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome.

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Tiécoro Sissoko (Mali Griots' Comments & Griot Song/Spoken Word)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a video from Mali, West Africa entitled "Tiécoro Sissoko". That video features comments from a male Griot,Djeli N'goni of Adama Tounkara, and an unnamed female Griot about the legacy of Griots. That video also features a song/spoken word composition by the Griot Tiécoro Sissoko.

English subtitles for this song/spoken word composition were given in the video, and I've re-produced those sub-titles in this post.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owner.

FEATURED VIDEO: Tiécoro Sissoko



ksksystemkrush, Published on Aug 1, 2012
Published on Aug 1, 2012

http://www.systemkrush.com
Keme Borama is an album recorded and produced by KSK Records. The 2012 release features Tiécoro Sissoko's classic Djeli singing and phenomenal solo guitar style. Tiécoro is accompanied by the skilled Djeli N'goni of Adama Tounkara musically conversing with Madouba Camara's melodic Kora. In stark comparison to "Afro Pop" this album is a testament to the raw musicality of the Djelis from the Kayes Region of Mali.

ENGLISH TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO
(This transcription is from the video's subtitles. These words are reproduced as they are written on the screen except for spacing, and a spelling correction for the word "reputation".)

COMMENTS:
Djeli N'goni of Adama Tounkara with background Kora playing by Madouba Camara:
No matter how you can be
You shouldn’t forget about your roots.
That is what is in this country.
We are the Griots.
The culture was created, put in a suitcase…
And given to us to protect.
If we weren’t here to save the past...
the lineage would be lost.
Here in Mali our kingdom will never disappear.

Female speaker seated next to Djeli N'goni of Adama Tounkara with background Kora playing by Madouba Camara:
Being a Griot belongs to us.
I have been a Griot since I was little.

Djeli N'goni of Adama Tounkara with background Kora playing by Madouba Camara:
The importances of being a Griot are endless.
Myself, I don’t what could be sweeter than being a Griot.
It doesn’t exist.

COMMENTS:
Tiécoro Sissoko:
Spoken (with Tiécoro humming and guitar playing in the background)
My name is Tiécoro
I was raised in our family and all my descendants are Griot.
I first moved here [Bamako] to learn guitar from my brother.
I came here in 1968.
That was the only reason I came here.
Three days after I arrived here, they bought me a guitar.
And I started learning on it.

SONG/SPOKEN WORD: "THE CHARMING GRIOT IS LIVING"* - Tiécoro Sissoko

[humming & guitar playing]

I’m part of it. I’m not part of it. **
I will agree to that, charming Griot.

If you miss him this year, you will not
see him until next year.

Everyone depends on their mother’s blessings.

Good afternoon, the greatest personality of the house.

Love someone who loves you.
Abandon someone who has no love for you.
Death can reach you anywhere you go.
Death can reach you anyplace you go in this world,
Allah is the highest.
Death can reach you while you are sick.

[humming & guitar playing]

You have to work for your name. You cannot force it.
Someone with a good reputation will never be equal to
someone with a bad one.
The deep darkness of Africa.

[humming & guitar playing]

Oh, that is true, life is a turn. ***
You have to enjoy life while you are living it...
because we will all die
one day like a light bulb going out.
and it doesn’t matter if you agree, it will
happen.
God forbid, God forbid, the day that He does it, who is going to ask Him why he did it?
If you are living you have to enjoy life until the end.
Before death reaches you.
If you agree or not, you cannot escape death.

[humming & guitar playing]
People who are doing good things, that’s what
will be said after you.
People who are doing bad things, that’s what
will be said after you.
People who are making the Griot happy, that’s what
will be said after you.
People who disrespect the Griot, that’s what
will be said after you.

Ignorance is darkness.
Don’t you see? Whatever you do,
after you are gone, it will be said.
Great personality of the house.
That is true. What you do, is what will be said
when you pass away.

This guy is good. This guy is bad.

Whatever you do in this life.
there is an importance to it.

If you cannot get a benefit from
anything, maybe you can get tired and quit.
Otherwise there is benefit in everything, good or bad.

[humming & guitar playing]

COMMENTS Tiécoro Sissoko [with Tiécoro humming and guitar playing in the background]
What my reflections give me is that...
the reason why music of
today’s youth is not progressing...
Is that they are not asking for guidance
from the elder musicians.

[song/spoken word continues]

I did not forget about the laughing girl.
I’ll see you in the morning and the charming Griot is living.

[End of song/spoken word]

COMMENTS - Tiécoro Sissoko
Ever since I started,
I have benefitted…
from being an artist.
Music is like any job, if you don’t learn it
you won’t do well.

end of comments
Video Producer's notes:
Tiécoro Sissoko died in May of 2012.
He was 66 years old.
For more information about Tiecoro and other KSK artists please visit http://www.systemkrush.com
-snip-
Editor's notes:
* No title was given to this song. I used the last words of this song/spoken word composition as its title. I have posted a comment on this video's viewer comment thread asking for the correct title. When I receive a response, I will change the title of this song/spoken word.

It seems to me that in the context of this song, the meaning of "charming" is probably "1. To attract or delight greatly" and not
2. To induce by using strong personal attractiveness" or
3. To cast or seem to cast a spell on; bewitch.
[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/charming]
-snip-
I think that the word "charming" as used in this song/spoken word may also mean "a person who has a way with words", a person who has a "smooth tongue". However, in the United States, a "charming" person may be viewed with suspicion. For instance, Americans may consider a man who is "turning on the charm" as doing so for some ulterior motive that benefits him and not anyone else. In the United States a smooth talker, or a charming man (or woman) might have elements of a "snake oil salesman"-"snake oil" being a general term for home made useless medicine. While Tiécoro Sissoko's use of the word "charming" probably carries the smooth talking description, it probably doesn't carry the negative "snake oil salesman" connotation.
-snip-
It seems to me that this song/spoken word is composed of reflections and/or proverbs/folk sayings such as "Love someone who loves you", conversational lines such as "Good afternoon, the greatest personality of the house" and other comments such as "I’m part of it. I’m not part of it./ I will agree to that, charming Griot."
-snip-
** My guess is that the line "I’m part of it. I’m not part of it" refers to Tiécoro Sissoko continuing the Griot traditions but accompanying himself with a guitar and not a kora.
-snip-
*** Another way to say "life is a turn" might be “life is like a wheel turning”.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Griots featured in this video. RIP Tiécoro Sissoko.
Thanks to the uploader of this video, ksksystemkrush.

Also, thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome.

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Music In Mali, West Africa (Two Videos & Links)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Two times during the third United States Presidential Debate 10/22/2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney very briefly mentioned the nation of Mali, West AfricaBoth of those comments focused on the rise of terrorist groups in that nation. However, those comment prompted me to look up the post I've published on this cultural blog about Malian music.

Among those posts are:
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/05/mendiani-menjani-manjani-dance-drum.html
"Mendiani (Menjani, Manjani) Dance & Drum Rhythm"

and

http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/06/videos-of-dogon-mask-dancers-mali-west.html
"Videos Of Dogon Mask Dancers (Mali, West Africa)"

-snip-
The very brief comments about Mali in that debate also motivated me to scan YouTube for other videos about music in the West African nation of Mali. This is one of the videos that I found:

New Movie Trailer "Music in Mali: Life is Hard, Music Is Good"



Published on Sep 26, 2012

http://www.systemkrush.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kanaga-System-Krush/164940735147

Music In Mali: Life Is Hard, Music Is Good" is a feature-length documentary about the musicians, dancers and everyday people of Mali who are creating inspiring heartfelt music in some of the most difficult living conditions of West Africa. The crew from System Krush Productions have been going to Mali for a decade to record and document the lives of musicians such as Djelimady Tounkara, Lobi Traoré, Mangala Camara, Dejenba Seck, and Toumani Diabate, in intimate settings, performing their music and sharing their story.

From one of the world's most impoverished countries viewers will hear the music that has inspired artists all around the globe including celebrities such as Bonnie Raitt, Damon Albarn, Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder and Bannning Eyre. From the villages of Segou to the ghettos of Bamako the message is clear "Life is hard, music is good".

-snip-

I also found this video:

African Music and Dancing



Uploaded on Aug 21, 2008


Take a look at the beautiful African dancing and music from Mali, West Africa. The instruments being played are balafons, African D'Jembe drums, and talking drums. You can see more videos at http://www.africaimports.com

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RELATED LINK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali

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ACKNOWLEDGEMNT AND THANKS
Thanks to Malian musicians, vocalists, and dancers for keeping the wonderful traditions of Mali, West Africa alive inspite of the political difficulties that that nation is going through.

Thanks to the publishers of these videos.

Finally, thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome.

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Shared Aesthetics: West African Dozo Hunters & Chicago Footwork

Edited by Azizi Powell

Earlier this year I published this post on the similarities between certain Ivory Coast, West Africa mask dances and an African American hiphop dance called "Chicago footwork": http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/02/shared-aesthetics-ivory-coast-mask.html "Shared Aesthetics: Ivory Coast Mask Dances & Chicago Footwork".

I wrote in that post that "... the similarities between how the Djoanigbe & Zaouli masking tradition dances and the African American "Chicago footwork" dance are performed- including the fast footwork and one individual at a time dancing within a circle made up of onlookers & dancers- causes me to wonder if a valid case could be made that African Americans' aesthetic preference for certain forms of dance are genetically influenced by our unconscious remembrances of similar traditional African dances.

Yesterday, I happened upon another video of West African dancers performing fast footwork done by members of the Dozo (Donso) hunters group of Mali, West Africa. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dozo "The Dozo (also Donzo, Bambara for hunter, pl. donzow) are traditional hunters in northern Ivory Coast, southeast Mali, and Burkina Faso, and members of a co-fraternity containing initiated hunters and sons of Dozo, called a Donzo Ton. Not an ethnic group, the Dozo are drawn mostly from Mandé-speaking groups, but are also found among Dyula-speaking communities and most other ethnic groups in Ivory Coast. Dozo societies increased in the last decades of the twentieth century, and Dozo groups came into political prominence during the Ivorian Civil War."

-snip-

Click http://www.africanoutfitter.com/backissues/2007/junejuly/selfguidedhunting.php for more information on the West African Dozo hunters.

The same statements that I made about the Ivory Coast masked dances & Chicago footwork (and other African American fast footwork dances including "the mash potato", breakdancing, krumping, and more) could be made about the Dozo hunters dance.

Generalities about African American dances being influenced by "traditional African dances" bug me. Africa is a HUGE continent. If a particular African American dance might be influenced by a traditional African dance, it would be helpful if that traditional dance would be identified by its ethnic group, nation, and more.

As I indicated in the previous "Shared Aesthetic" post, by presenting examples of the African dance and the African American dance, I'm not saying that their meanings and purposes are the same. What I am saying is that they share performance and aesthetics.

My thanks to those featured in the videos, to those who uploaded these videos. All copyrights remain with their owners.

FEATURED VIDEO: DOZO HUNTERS
Sekouba Traore

Uploaded by kaarta223 on Dec 11, 2011

-snip-
Times for scenes of fast footwork in the video:
6:42 -9:27; 28:15; and 41:04-48:54

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FEATURED VIDEO: CHICAGO FOOTWORK

Creation & Havoc vs Terra Squad Leaders (Wala Cam) www.walacamtv.com



Uploaded by WALACAM on Jul 1, 2010

-snip-

Here's some information about Chicago footwork from http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/05/11/136209254/footwork-chicago-dance-music-with-a-need-for-speed:

"Since the mid-'90s, a style of dance and a genre of music that share the name footwork have been livening up parties and late-night public access TV in Chicago. Now footwork is reaching beyond its hometown over YouTube and through local and European music promoters."

-snip-

Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footwork_(Chicago) for more information about Chicago footwork. That Wikipedia article indicates that "Footwork is a style of related music and street dance that originated in Chicago.[1] The dance involves fast movement of the feet with accompanying twists and turns, and usually takes place as part of a "battle".[2] The music style has evolved from an earlier musical style, juke, a change pioneered by R.P. Boo.[2] The style was popularised outside Chicago by inclusion in the music video for Dude 'n Nem's 2007 single "Watch My Feet".[3]"

ADDENDUM
With regard to the Dozo hunters, I'm struck by the similarity between the ceremonial fly wisk that many of the hunters in the procession shown in the featured video carry in one hand, and the large feathered fan or some other ornament that is carried by members of the New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs (SAPCS). Click http://www.jambalayah.com/node/1145 for videos of those New Orlean Social Aid & Pleasure Club parades. Here's one video that is featured on that compilation post from my Jambalayah website:

Keeping It Real 2010 Second line Parade rolling on St. Bernard with The Hot 8 Brass Band



uploaded by BigRedCotton on Apr 22, 2010

-snip-
Also, I'd love to identify the type of processional dancing/strutting done by the Dozo Hunters. I'm tempted to compare that movement with New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs (SAPCS), and second liners who join in those parades, but I'm not sure if the same type of dance/strutting steps are done during those two processional/parades.

-snip-

In addition, I wonder if the scene in which the Dozo dancer twirls his gun while dancing [at 43:47-44:00] is a traditional movement. If so, I wonder if this is a precursor of baton twirling by American (and other nations') drum majors and majorettes. Here's a link to a post on the roots of baton twirling that I published on my Cocojams website: http://cocojams.com/content/kongo-roots-baton-twirling "The Kongo Roots Of Baton Twirling".

-snip-
Finally, it occurs to me that the hats with the raffia hanging down that are worn by some of the Dozo hunters in that featured video remind me of Rastafarian dreadlocks. I just want to note that for the record.

RELATED LINKS
Here are two additional videos of Dozo hunters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siGCQfGm01kToba Seydou Traoré, Donso du Wassolon
**
Sibiri Samake - Music of the Hunters of Sebenikoro, Mali

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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome.

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