Balafon

The balafon (pronounced , or, by analogy with xylophone etc., ) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Bwaba Bobo, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now found across West Africa from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali. with the word  fóo (nyáa) () 'to say / method of saying' or the Greek root phono. and the gyil of the Dagara, Lobi and Gurunsi from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Similar instruments are played in parts of Central Africa, with the ancient Kingdom of Kongo denoting the instrument as palaku.

Records of the balafon go back to at least the 12th century CE. In 1352 CE, Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported the existence of the ngoni and balafon at the court of Malian ruler Mansa Suleyman.

European visitors to West Africa described balafons in the 17th century largely identical to the modern instrument. The Atlantic Slave Trade brought some balafon players to the Americas. The Virginia Gazette records African-Americans playing a barrafoo in 1776, which appears to be a balafon. Other North American references to these instruments die out by the mid-19th century.

thumb|left|Children from Burkina Faso performing in Warsaw, Poland, during the 5th Cross Culture Festival, September 2009

The balafon has seen a resurgence since the 1980s in the growth of African Roots Music and World Music. Most famous of these exponents is the Rail Band, led by Salif Keita. Even when not still played, its distinctive sound and traditional style has been exported to western instruments. Maninka from eastern Guinea play a type of guitar music that adapts balafon playing style to the imported instrument.

Etymology

In the Malinké language balafon is a compound of two words: balan is the name of the instrument and fô is the verb to play. Balafon therefore is really the act of playing the bala. where the words of the spoken Sambla language are translated into music in a similar fashion to the more famous case of talking drum communication.

Gyile

The gyile ( or ) is the name of a buzzing pentatonic balafon common to the Gur-speaking populations in northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, southeastern Mali and northern Ivory Coast in West Africa. Among Mande populations in Ghana like the Ligbi (Numu), Bissa and Dyula, the same instrument is known as bala. The gyil is the primary traditional instrument of the Dagara people of northern Ghana and Burkina Faso, and of the Lobi of Ghana, southern Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. The gyil is usually played in pairs, accompanied by a calabash gourd drum called a kuor. It can also be played by one person with the drum and the stick part as accompaniment, or by a soloist. Gyil duets are the traditional music of Dagara funerals. The instrument is generally played by men, who learn to play while young; however, there is no restriction on gender. It is also played by the Gurunsi people of the Upper East Region of Ghana, as well as neighbouring Gurunsi populations across the border in south and central Burkina Faso. A dance related to the gyil is the Bewaa.

The gyil's design is similar to the balaba or balafon used by the Mande-speaking Bambara, Dyula and Sosso peoples further west in southern Mali and western Burkina Faso, as well as the Senoufo people of Sikasso, a region that shares many musical traditions with those of northern Ivory Coast and Ghana. It is made with 14 wooden keys of an African hardwood called liga attached to a wooden frame, below which hang calabash gourds. Spider web silk covers small holes in the gourds to produce a buzzing sound and antelope sinew and leather are used for the fastenings.

thumb|A young balafon player, Mali

thumb|Balafon players in a [[PAIGC schoolband, Ziguinchor, Senegal, 1973]]

Historians Jan Jansen and Francis Simonis have argued that the Sosso Bala was in fact 'invented' as a historical artifact by the Kouyaté family in the 1970s. Regardless of the truth of this story, the Sosso Bala was named by UNESCO as one of the Nineteen Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001.

Senegal

The title of the Senegalese National Anthem is "Pincez tous vos koras, frappez les balafons" (Everyone strum your koras, strike the balafons).

Mali

A modern festival devoted to the balafon, the Triangle du balafon, now takes place annually at Sikasso in Mali.

Famous players and ensembles

Famous balafon players have included:

Madou Kone, Balafon Master from Burkina Faso, living in Vienna, Austria
Richard Bona, Cameroonian jazz musician
Abdou Karim Diabate "Tunkaraba" King of Balafon, from the village of Tabatto, Guinea-Bissau
Djiby Diabaté
Kélétigui Diabaté, playing for Habib Koité's Bamada group
Mamadou Diabate, Knight of the National Order of Burkina Faso (2016), Winner of the "Grand Prix" & "Prix de la Virtuosite de Festival Triangle du Balafon" in Mali (2012), Winner of the Austrian World Music Award (2011)
Lassana Diabaté, Malian musician known for work with Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra and Afrocubism
Modibo Diabaté, from Mali
Zerika Djabate, Bissau-Guinean musician
Djiguiya, percussion band from Burkina Faso
Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo
Les Freres Coulibaly, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
Stefon Harris, American jazz musician
Mickey Hart, American percussionist
Dominic Howard of Muse used a balafon on the band's second album, Origin of Symmetry
Mory Kanté, early in his career
Aly Keita, Aly Keita and the Magic Balaphone, Malian balafon player
Gert Kilian, DVD "The Balafon with Aly Keita & Gert Kilian", "Balafon Beat" / Verlag Zimmermann
Lawrence Killian, American jazz musician
Mahama Konaté of John Cena, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
Balla Kouyate, from Mali/Guinea, whose father, Sekou "Filani" Kouyaté, is the current guardian of the Sosso Bala
Mamadi Kouyate, from Mali/Guinea, (Germany since 2015), whose grandfather Sékou "Filani" Kouyaté, is the current guardian of the Sosso Bala
El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyaté
N'Faly Kouyate of the Afro Celt Sound System
Adam Malik, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
Dave Mann, jazz percussionist, played with the Dave Brubeck Group
Neba Solo (Senufo balafon group, led by Souleymane Traoré) from Sikasso
Mama Ohandja, Cameroonian composer and performer to his country
Qasim, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
Pharoah Sanders, American jazz musician
Saramaya, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
Raheel Sharif, British band leader originally from Senegal
Bill Summers, American jazz musician, performing with Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, and Los Hombres Calientes
Lonnie Liston Smith, American jazz musician
Rokia Traoré, Malian singer, guitarist, and band leader
Le Troupe Saaba, Burkina-based balafon ensemble
Momo Werner Wevers, German balafon player, plays solo and with the "Ensemble M.Pahiya" (balafon and classical guitar)
N'Camara Abou Sylla (Guinea; Les Ballets Africains)
Benno Sterzer, German balafon player living in Austria, duet partner of Madou Kone, released "Balafon -Songs from Africa"

References

Sources

"BALAFON BEAT" by Gert Kilian, edition Zimmermann / Germany http://www.gert-kilian.com/bb/index.html
"The Balafon with Aly Keita & Gert Kilian", edition "improductions" / Paris http://www.gert-kilian.com/DVDbalafon.html
"Das magische Balafon" by Mamadi Kouyaté, Ursula Branscheid-Kouyaté, https://www.djembe-kora.de/mamadi.html

External links

Cora Connection: What is a balaphone?
Gallery of balafon photos, including the construction process.
The Making of a Mofu-Gudur Balafon An article with photos and illustrations on the construction of a balafon in northern Cameroon.
https://www.djembe-kora.de/trommelbau.html a clip about the making of a balafon in Niagassola / Guinea