Papa Susso
Encyclopedia
Griot
A griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
or jeli
Jeli
Jeli is a town and territory in Kelantan, Malaysia. As of 2000, the district's population is estimated to be 42,882. Jeli is administered by the Jeli District Council. Jeli is bordered by the state of Perak to the west, Thailand to the north, Tanah Merah district to the north east and Kuala Krai...
, master kora
Kora (instrument)
The kora is a 21-string bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa.-Description: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...
player, and director of the Koriya Musa Center for Research in Oral Tradition. He was born 29 September, 1947, in the village of Sotuma Sere in the Upper River Division of The Republic of Gambia, West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. The Susso family represents a dynasty of traditional oral historians and praise singers. His father taught him to play the kora, a 21-stringed, lute-like instrument invented by Susso’s ancestors, when he was five years old.
Education and public service career
Susso attended Bakadaji Primary School from 1953 to 1960 and enrolled at the Armitage High SchoolArmitage High School
Armitage School is a leading school in the Gambia. It was established by Governor Cecil Hamilton Armitage in Georgetown in 1927. After World War II, the school became a postprimary boarding school. Alumni of Armitage School include Sheriff Sisay, Sheriff Dibba and several other People's Progressive...
, Georgetown, The Gambia, from 1960-1965, where he graduated with honors. Thereafter, he received an appointment as Agricultural Assistant in the Ministry of Agricultural and Natural Resources. Upon receiving a scholarship to Cuttington University
Cuttington University
Cuttington University is a private university in Suacoco, Liberia. Founded in 1889 as Cuttington College by Episcopal Church of the United States , it is the oldest private, coeducational, four-year, degree-granting institution in sub-Saharan Africa.-History:In 1887, Robert Fulton Cutting,...
, Suacoco, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, he quit that post. He received a bachelor of arts degree in business administration in 1969.
Returning to The Gambia, Susso embarked on a career in the civil service, receiving an appointment as Senior Accountant in the Ministry of Work and Communications. Other posts included Financial Attaché and Liaison Officer for The Gambia Embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone; he was accreditedt as well to the Republic of Liberia, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
and The Ivory Coast.
Performing career
Susso ended his civil service career in order to resume his traditional role, becoming the chief kora player of The Gambia National Cultural Troupe under the Ministry of Education and Culture. In 1974, he left that position, founding his own cultural organization: The Manding Music and Dance Limited. The new organization sought to conduct research on Manding history, traditions and ethnomusicology, while providing assistance, particularly in business management, for traditional Manding performers. More generally, MMDL sought to revive, preserve and disseminate knowledge and appreciation of traditional Manding musical arts.His signature performances include selections from the traditional epicEpic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
in celebration of Sundiata Keita
Sundiata Keita
Sundiata Keita, Sundjata Keyita, Mari Djata I or just Sundiata was the founder of the Mali Empire and celebrated as a hero of the Malinke people of West Africa in the semi-historical Epic of Sundiata....
, founder of the Mali Empire
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I...
and an original composition in honor of the Apollo XI astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s.
Susso, now based equally in the Bronx and in the Gambia, travels widely, and has been a premier performer in the "American Classic African Portraits" by Hannibal Peterson. He performed at New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
twice, for the Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Detroit, Kalamazoo, San Antonio, St. Louis and Chicago Symphonies, the Louisiana Philharmonic of New Orleans, and Kazumi Watanabe Opera, Tokyo, Japan. Most of his time is spent giving performances in schools, from elementary through university levels, and discussing his art with students and faculty, giving both classroom presentations and formal concert performances. Susso has also been appointed as Regents' Lecturer in ethnomusicology in 1991 at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, He appears alone with his kora or with his ensemble that includes singer/dancer Tapa Demba, balafonist Bala Kouyate and his son, Alhassan Susso, on second kora.