Jali Nyama Suso (born Mohamadu Lamin Suso), the legendary Manding music Kora player was born around 1925 in The Gambia and spent most of his life in Bakau Wasulung Kunda. He was famous in the country for his weekly show on Radio Gambia and is acknowledged as one of the greatest kora players of the 20th century. By the time he was 8 years old he was already proficient with the kora.

As a youth the first song he learned was "Kelefaba," about the 19th century Kelefa Sanneh who was a warrior of the aristocracy of Kaabu. As his career progressed, he traveled widely to play at weddings and social functions, but his peripatetic employment was severely curtailed when, aged 16, he lost a leg after a bad fall. He concentrated instead on establishing a career in radio, beginning in 1956.

His popularity rose with these appearances, and by the mid-60s he was a nationally celebrated figure, enjoying the patronage of President Jawara's first wife. Jawara apparently appointed him as arranger to the Gambian national anthem, "Fode Kabba'. Afterwards he would be critical of the government (following Jawara's divorce). Later, after two musicologists visited the region he took the opportunity to travel back with them to the USA instead.

While he was a resident artist at the University of Washington (between 1971 - 1972) he recorded his first solo album, released on the OCORA label titled Gambia: Mandinka kora par Jali Nyama Suso. He was back at the university between 1972-73.

He additionally penned the song "Kinte's Tune" for Alex Haley's "Roots" television adaptation. Significantly, this was the show which first acknowledged black America's tidal wave of empathy with the African experience and the moral debt of colonialism. In the 80s he toured England, Germany, France, and Sweden.  He also worked on the soundtrack for Roots (TV mini series). This was long before Roots was known in The Gambia.

Suso has probably done more than any other musician to promote the kora/jali tradition outside of Africa. He was a competent kora player by age eight; at 16, a fall cost him a leg, rendering him unable to follow the normal jali existence of traveling around and performing at various ceremonies.
The Art of Kora.

“Praises and genealogy are incorporated into songs, and oral history was told to the accompaniment of instrument music. Those who knew Jali Nyama Suso remember him not only for his definitive playing and vast repertoire, but for his gift as a teacher and for his wonderful friendship.

A kora is built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator, and has a notched bridge. It does not fit well into any one category of western instruments and would have to be described as a double bridge harp lute. The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp, though when played in the traditional style, it bears a closer resemblance to flamenco and delta blues guitar techniques.

The player uses only the thumb and index finger of both hands to pluck the strings in polyrhythmic patterns (using the remaining fingers to secure the instrument by holding the hand posts on either side of the strings). Ostinato riffs ("Kumbengo") and improvised solo runs ("Birimintingo") are played at the same time by skilled players.

Kora players have traditionally come from griot families (also from the Mandinka nationalities) who are traditional historians, genealogists and storytellers who pass their skills on to their descendants. The instrument is played in Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and The Gambia. A traditional kora player is called a Jali, similar to a 'bard' or oral historian. Most West African musicians prefer the term 'jali' to 'griot', which is the French word.

Traditional koras feature 21 strings, eleven played by the left hand and ten by the right. Modern koras made in the Casamance region of southern Senegal sometimes feature additional bass strings, adding up to four strings to the traditional 21. Strings were traditionally made from thin strips of hide, for example antelope skin - now most strings are made from harp strings or nylon fishing line, sometimes plaited together to create thicker strings. By moving leather tuning rings up and down the neck, a kora player can retune the instrument into one of four seven-note scales. These scales are close in tuning to western Major, Minor and Lydian modes.

In the early 1970s Samuel Charters traveled to West Africa in order to trace the influences of the indigenous musical styles on the blues of the USA, especially the "pre-war" blues style of the 1920s and 1930s. He recorded musicians in Ghana, The Gambia and Senegal, focusing on the music of the professional musicians - the griots. The LP recordings feature two kora tracks by Jali Dr. Robert Garfias also revaled that while Jali Nyama Suso was in Seattle,  he recorded a 16mm film of him.

Nyama Suso, plus other songs performed by griots on the balafon and xalam. In addition there are also some superb shaped-note hymns and choral pieces performed by a Ghanaian choir, as well as recordings of street celebrations, Ewe drumming, a Jola dance, plus great liner notes and photographs. Originally released through Sonet, it is a pity that these albums have never been re-released on CD, for they form part of an invaluable resource on early recordings of griot music.

Jali Nyama died in 1991 of tuberculosis after several years of illness.  May his spirit live on through his recordings.