an ancient kora from Sotuma-Sere

Sotuma-Sere

This story begins long long long long ago

So long ago that it was a place not a time

There was a man

He was so alone

The only person he could talk to was Africa

Luckily there was a tree nearby

Even more luckily behind that tree

That’s where his partner was hiding

All the sun and all the water were condensed

Into a single tiny block

Which the man planted in the sandy soil

He blew and he blew on that spot

Each time he blew he thought he heard something

What he was hearing was of course his partner singing

The man didn’t even know what singing was

Because he could only talk

He couldn’t sing yet

So he blew and he listened, blew listened blew listened

And the plant pushed out dark green

And began to twist and grow 

A vine reaching for the breath 

And stretching towards the song

(Because it was made from sun and rain, remember?)

So at the end of the vine that was the calabash

And the tree it was not a tree anymore

It was the neck and handles

That was when the man’s partner Saba Kidane 

Came out into the open (but that’s another story)

And the breath and the singing and the vine?

Well, there are 21 strings, what do you think?

And now you say what about the bridge and the cowhide 

And the rings that tie the strings to the neck 

So you can tune the kora

Hey, what about the thumbtacks that hold

The cowhide taut over the calabash

And the resonator hole

Well you go right on talking about all that

I’m playing kora now

Next time I’ll tell you about the cow.....

Alhaji Papa Susso

*contact*

& .....we'll meet again in 2 weeks