Image credit: Altweibersommer
If there was a musical band that encompassed the essence of Taste Culture it would definitely be Jobarteh Kunda.
Jobarteh Kunda is Munich-based international band with members from Africa, the Caribbean, the US, and Europe.
Here’s a little background as told by Sonicbids:
The history of this project is as fascinating and exceptional as the band’s sound. The band’s leader, Tormenta Jobarteh, grew up in Munich and studied drums at the local Dante Augustini Institute. He made multiple tours in different ensembles through Europe, Asia and the U.S. until in 1987 he met a band from Gambia who invited him for a visit to this small West African country. This encounter had crucial consequences for him, for there, for the first time, he heard the beautiful sound of the Kora, the 21-string harp-lute of the Manding Griots. Tormenta spent eight years in Boraba under the tutelage of Basuru Jobarteh, his musical mentor and Griot of Boraba, in Fulladou.
During that period, he focused his attention to learning the Kora, the Mandika language and Mande culture. He became so immersed in his adoptive country’s culture that he was eventually adopted by his teacher into the Jobarteh family. Griots (in the Mandinka language “Jaliya”) are the highly respected musicians, historians, chroniclers, storytellers and wise counselors of the people all rolled into one. Jobarteh eventually was officially designated through ceremony as a Griot, with all the rights and obligations that go along with it – certainly a unique distinction for a white non-African. Committed by this overwhelming honor, Tormenta Jobarteh began to bring the rich culture of the Mande-Griots over to Germany and Central Europe, developing a new musical concept based on his own Afro-European history. In 1995 he met balafonist, Mori Dioubatè. Mori Dioubatè is a member of the same Griot family that adopted Tormenta. Both Griots decided to start a common project and this was the birth of Jobarteh Kunda. Numerous appearances followed, consolidating the band’s repertoire and reputation. By the time they recorded their first CD “Abaraka” in spring 1999, the band’s line up comprised top-class musicians, all from different countries with different cultural roots creating their own multi-cultural sound. This is precisely what makes the sound of Jobarteh-Kunda so appealing and rich in variations. “Abaraka” was an international success (the song “Afrika” became the title song of director Fritz Baumann’s movie “Anansi”).
Enjoy this amazing song “Maimuna”: