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Editorial Reviews
Book Description
"Djelimady Toundara has powerful hands. His muscled fingers and palms seem almost brutish to the eye, but when he grasps the neck of a guitar and brushes the nail of his right index finger across the strings, the sound lifts effortlessly, like dust in a wind. In Bamako, Mali, where musicians struggle, Djelimady is a big man, and all of his family's good fortunes flow from those hands."
"Djelimady Toundara has powerful hands. His muscled fingers and palms seem almost brutish to the eye, but when he grasps the neck of a guitar and brushes the nail of his right index finger across the strings, the sound lifts effortlessly, like dust in a wind. In Bamako, Mali, where musicians struggle, Djelimady is a big man, and all of his family's good fortunes flow from those hands."
Djelimady Tounkara is only one of the memorable people you will meet in this dramatic narrative of life among the griot musicians of Mali. Born into families where music and the tradition of griot stroy-telling is a heritage and a privilege, Djelimady and his fellow griots—both men and women—live their lives at the intersection of ancient traditions and the modern entertainment industry. During the seven months he spent living and studying with Djelimady, Banning Eyre immersed himself in a world that will fascinate you as it did him.
Eyre creates a range of unforgettable portraits. Some of the people who stride through his pages are internationally known, musicians like Salif Keita, Oumou Sangaré, and Grammy winner Ali Farka Touré. But the lesser-known characters are equally fascinating: Adama Kouyaté, Djelimady's dynamic wife; Moussa Kouyaté, the Tounkara family's own griot; Yayi Kanouté, the flamboyant jelimuso (female griot) who failed to take America by storm; Foutanga Babani Sissoko, the mysterious millionaire who rebuilt an entire town and whose patronage is much sought after by the griots of Bamako.
But the picture Eyre draws is not just a series of portraits. Out of their interactions comes a perceptive panorama of life in Mali in the late twentieth centruy. The narrative gives us a street-level view of the transformation of musical taste and social customs, the impact of technology, and the pressures of poverty, at a curcial time in Mali's history. In individual after individual, family after family, we see the subtle conflicts of heritage and change. Even the complications of democracy—with democracy, mango vendors think they can charge anything they want, Djelimady points out—are woven into an unforgettable saga of one man, his family, his profession, and the world of Malian music.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From the Publisher
An American guitarist chronicles the lives of musicians in Mali
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
Product Details
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