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Wednesday, March 13, 6:30 p.m.
CO-SPONSORED WITH INSTITUTE OF FRENCH STUDIES
Griots, Nobility, and the Transformation of Musical Culture in Contemporary West Africa
Lecture/Performance
CH仂IF KE柧A
Professor of French and Francophone Literatures, Carleton College; author ofOutcast to Ambassador: The Musical Odyssey of Salif Ke鮠a
ALHAJI PAPA SUSSO
Griot; master kora (African harp-lute) player; director, Koriya Musa Center for Research in Oral Tradition
Moderated by IAN MERKEL, doctoral candidate (NYU)
What happens when a nobleman picks up a guitar and sings praise? When a dj幨i or griot crosses an ocean, changing both his patronage network and the very stories that establish his legitimacy? How are castes remade, both by individuals and by the societies in transition from which they emerge?
These are but a few of the questions that will be addressed in a dialogue between Ch廨if Ke鮠a, a specialist of the Mande world, and Alhaji Papa Susso, a Senegambian kora player who lives in New York. They will provide us a glimpse into the West African musical diaspora through both analysis and song, providing an evening of reflection, song, and certainly a bit of humor.