Artists
who's who and who's doing what?Jalikunda Cissokho
- country:Senegal
- region:West Africa
- label:jalikunda records
- artist submitted by:
Jalikunda is an explosive cocktail of spiritual Afro-Mandinka music with a twist of Jazz, inspired by the songs, dances and rhythms from Casamance in southern Senegal where the band mainly comes from.
Jalikunda means "the house of the griots" in the Mandinka language. The griot family featured in this fantastic band is the Cissokho's, family spread all over West Africa and Europe, resulting in one huge personality across the stage.
The concept of Jalikunda was conceived few years ago by Solo Cissokho who had the vision of bringing members of his family together to share their different experiences from around the Diaspora.
This led to different tours in Sweden, Norway and Senegal (winter 2000 and 2001).
This vision inspired Seckou Keita, who introduced the idea to the UK in 2002, by inviting Fily, Sadio, Maudo and Maher Cissokho.
The UK tour included Glastonbury Festival (Jazz/World stage), Womad Festival (Reading) and Window of the World Festival where the band performed alongside Cheikh Lo and Papa Wemba.
The mission of Jalikunda is not only to share a musical experience from its members but to inspire peace through the universal language of music.
As an instrument to praise Kings and Kingdoms, which no longer exist in a formal way, the kora inspires the feeling of kingship within everyone who hears the music, whether traditional or in its new modern aspect of popular and dance music.
Jalikunda is a family model which commands unity worldwide despite distances between its members.
The family, as well as those who have united through the kora, have created a multicultural mix of shared experiences from Senegal of course via UK, Norway, Sweden and Germany.
Following the huge success of the year 2002, an album will be released in February 2003 to complete their work.
This experience and versatility allow the musicians to play a carousel on stage which gives another dimension to their show.
The result is a unique inspirational blend which draws on the deep roots of traditional African music, percussion, song and dance.
Workshops..a truly fabulous experience!!
Jalikunda offers also wide range of workshops for the adapted festival: dance, drumming, Kora, singing, clapping and the history of the Mandinka Empire.
