Sheriff Janko
Gambia’s kora virtuoso Sona Jobarteh has began her tour of Europe, debuting in Wroclaw, Poland on the World Music stage at the NFM, Red Hall to a sold out crowd recently.
The vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer also blazed the scene at Leed’s Howard Assembly Room, London’s King’s Place and Budapest’s MUPA on February 1st, 3rd and 9th respectively and the sold out nature became even clearer and a theme for this Europe tour’s kick-off.
Sona and her band of dynamic musicians also performed at Cambridge at the Corn Exchange for the City Roots Festival opening concert, reports reaching Standard Lite reveals.
Recently, Sona and her crew moved to Germany for the first leg of the tour at Gschwend, Gemeindehalle. The European tour, which kicked off on 27 January will wrap up on June 3 at the Africa Festival in Wurzburg, Germany.
Breaking away from tradition, Sona is a modern day pioneer in an ancient, male-dominated hereditary tradition that has been exclusively handed down from father to son for the past seven centuries.
Also a social activist, lecturer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, The Gambian kora sensation is one of the most exciting new talents from the West African griot tradition to hit the stage in recent years.
She has an effortless ability to blend musical styles and uses her innovative stance to talk about issues to do with cultural identity, gender, love and respect whilst still adhering to and rooting herself firmly in her traditional cultural heritage.
Sona represents her tradition in a way that is easily accessible to her audiences from around the world, who are drawn in by her captivating voice, strong rhythms and catchy melodies.
