FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
Musa Barrow
6 February 2008
interview
Today's edition of Arts and Music Column puts Burama Saho, a sublime kora player under the spotlight. Mr. Saho whose prowess in kora led him to represent his country in various international festivals, talks about issues ranging from how he fell in love with the ancient music instrument and the state of Gambian music.
Saho further speaks about the need to preserve Gambian art and role of national council for Art and Culture in doing so.
Could you give a brief personal history of yourself?
Saho: Well, as you rightly mentioned in your introduction my name is Jali Burama Saho. I was born and brought up in Misera, Sandu, Upper River Region. Both my parents who were artists were born in the Gambia.
How did you learn to play kora?
Saho: I started learning to play kora as a past time. I used to travel in the dry season to do manual jobs in order to earn myself income. It was only during the rainy season that I concentrated on ,my kora lessons. And astonishingly for me I was able to learn kora within a period of one year and five months This period I must say is remarkable in the sense that it takes some people five years before getting their qualifications as standard kora players. I got my first personal kora in 1976 and with it I traveled to many countries in the West African sub-region which helped me to learn to speak some languages in the countries.
How on earth did you manage to learn kora within such a short period of time given the fact that it takes some people nothing less than five years?
Saho: I would attribute this to hard work and dedication. In addition to that I should say that I was introduced to kora by my father when I was a young lad. I can still remember as a young boy whenever my father was angry, instead of beating me he would dismantle a kora and ask me to fix every part in the right place. So in a nutshell, I was quite conversant with kora before formally starting to learn it. Furthermore, as a kora student the instrument was an inextricable part of my life. I used to sleep and wake up with kora. Above all, in every endeavour one embarks on, one should show a great deal of interest and commitment to it.
After having been declared a standard kora player, when did you start your artistic career?
Saho: My artistic career began in 1976 immediately after having been declared a standard kora player and it took off in a rather bizarre manner. In 1976 when I traveled to Senegal most of my colleagues were doing manual works such as fetching water. I also had a contract with a woman to fill her water containers everyday. Then one day when I completed filling these containers, as I started to play my kora, another woman approached me and said I had been seeing you playing this instrument over the TV, this is my first day to see it physically. The woman after having been thrilled invited me to perform for her and her family. It was on this very day that I abandon my former work and started performing on various occasions. After my exploits in Senegal I also traveled to countries like Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone where I spent four years.
When was your first tour outside Africa and who were the organizers?
Saho: My first trip outside Africa happened in 1995 when as a member of the then National Troop toured United States. The National Council for Art and Culture were the organizers of this tour. During this tour we were lodged at Detroit, but performed and visited states like Ohio, Alabama, Atlanta and New York. Our second trip to United States was in 1996 and the NCAA was also behind this tour.
During your two tours to United States, what reception did you get from Gambians residing in United States?
Saho: Although Gambians did turn up in large numbers to watch our show, but they were outnumbered by Americans; however, we were well received by Gambians based in the United States.
Who organized those two festivals in the United States and what was the objective of the festivals?
Saho: The man behind those festivals was the late Dr. Pierson, an African American who stood for Pan-Africanism. The ultimate objective of the festivals I was made to understand was to promote as well as showcase African culture and tradition. The festivals also gave us the opportunity to propagate the name of our country
Do you have any unpleasant memory during your tours of the United States?
Saho: In our 1995 tour, artists of National Troop were offered an allowance by city council of Middle Town, Ohio, this offer was without any hesitation rejected by one of our officials. This decision by this particular official did not go down well with most of the National Troop members. And it truly outraged them.
How much money was allocated to every member of the troop prior to your visits to United States?
Saho: In addition to our monthly salaries which we were entitled to during the period of our visits we were allocated two thousand dalasi and four thousand dalasi as allowances in 1995 and 1996 respectively.
Foroyaa: What criteria do you think was used to select representatives in those two international festivals?
Saho: The first criteria I believe was our regular registration with National Council for Art and Culture. In addition those selected were also extremely good in the trade.
How did you go to Ireland?
Saho: Well, in 1998 a friend who was quite impressed with me invited me and three of my colleagues to Ireland where we spent seven weeks. After that in 1999, I again with the National Troop returned to the United States.
In the same year 1999, my Guinean friend who was residing in the United States returned home and told me that he was going to take me back to the United States. He was disappointed that in our earlier trips he urged me to abscond which I refused. The reason why I refused was because I was on a national mission, absconding to me would mean deserting national cause. After presenting all my documents to the American consular in Conakry, he insisted that since I was on my way to work as a kora instructor at the University of California, I had to first obtain a work permit from the United States before issuing me a visa. Unfortunately, I tried to get one but I could not.
So if that trip had gone through you would have been a kora instructor at the University of California?
Saho: Exactly right. In fact I have taught kora to many people, both Europeans and Africans. Recently one student of mine who is an Israeli national sent me a cassette of his performance.
How do you see the state of music in this country? Does the future look rosy?
Saho: Truly, the state of Gambian music is not encouraging at all. In fact the disheartening and inconceivable thing is that foreign artists are given more respect by Gambians than local artists. In one roots festival in Gambia here, Malian artists were allocated fifteen minutes to perform on the stage, while Gambian musical groups were only given ten minutes. Such things do demoralize home grown artists. After this show the Malian artists teasingly told us that we would teach you to become better artists next year.
In the following year we protested to national council for art and culture that we should be given the same time limit as our Malian counterparts. This time around after the show the Malians acknowledge our skills and saluted us knowing well that we are as good as any other group.
Recently one Gambian artist during an interview had bluntly claimed that national council for art and culture is not supportive of Gambian artists, Do you share his opinion?
Saho: I totally concur with that fellow. The council is always complaining about acute fund shortage even without funds they could have persuaded artists willing to work for the nation to form a national troop. The NCAC should double their efforts to ensure that artists of this country are supported. After all the council is here for artists.
It is often claimed that Gambia has some of the best kora players in the African sub-region. But why is it that Gambian music in terms of popularity trails behind Malian and Senegalese music?
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