Kora

The kora is a 21-string harp that is played almost exclusively by jeliw. It was probably developed in the late 18th century, making it one of the “newest” traditional instruments in West Africa. The kora’s body is made out of a large calabash gourd that is wrapped with cowhide and penetrated by a long stick to form the neck of the instrument. Along the neck are loops of antelope hide that serve as tuning pegs connecting the strings to the body of the instrument. The kora’s 21 strings are divided into two planes—one with 11 strings and the other with 10—that face each other. Two long pegs are inserted into the body of the instrument; the player holds one peg with each hand and plucks the strings with the thumb and index finger of each hand. The kora is one of several calabash harps that are found in West Africa, the much older donso ngoni (hunters’ harp) being another example.

Balafon

Neba Solo is neither Mande nor a jeli, but he is a master of a version of the balafon common to his ethnic group, the Senoufo.

The balafon [BAH-lah-fohn], also known as the bala, is a type of xylophone common among the Mande of West Africa. It is made of tuned wooden slats—usually 17, though there may be more or fewer—tied onto a frame. Below each slat is a calabash gourd that resonates when the wooden slat is struck with a mallet. Two small holes are cut into each gourd and covered with a piece of tissue paper, plastic, or spider egg casings to create a slightly distorted, buzzing sound. There are many different kinds of balafons all over West Africa, and throughout Mali, which can be distinguished by the size, number of keys, tuning, and function.

Of the three principal jeli instruments, the balafon has special significance in Mande culture due to the accounts that have been passed down over the centuries about its origins. According to oral tradition, the Mande received their version of the balafon when its original owner, Soumaoro Kante, the king of the Sosso, was defeated by Sunjata, marking the beginning of the Mali Empire. The instrument said to be Soumaoro’s own balafon, known as the Sosso bala, is still carefully preserved and guarded in a small, remote village in Guinea near the Malian border called Niagassola. The 800-year-old Sosso bala is one of the oldest instruments in the world and one of the most cherished relics of Mande culture.

Ngoni

Bassekou Kouyate playing the ngoni

Ngoni [nGOH-nee] is the Bamana name for a West African plucked string instrument that closely resembles an instrument used in ancient Egypt. Because of the extensive contact between sub-Saharan Africans and travelers from North Africa and the Middle East, it is not certain whether the West African or Egyptian version was developed earlier, but the similarity between the two instruments is an example of cultural diffusion. The ngoni can vary in size, but the body is typically made from a hollowed out, canoe-shaped piece of wood with animal skin stretched across the opening. The body is connected to a fretless stick that forms the neck of the instrument. There are usually three or four nylon strings, though there are some ngonis with as few as one or as many as seven strings. It is played, like a guitar, by plucking its strings—in fact, most ngoni players in Mali also play guitar—and though much smaller than a guitar, it can produce a surprisingly loud and penetrating sound. It is likely that the American banjo developed from attempts by enslaved Africans to recreate the ngoni or other West African plucked string instruments after they were brought to the United States.