Jally Kebba Susso
Jally Kebba Susso is a musical and cultural ambassador for Gambia in the UK. Jally Kebba plays from a background of 74 generations of musical heritage. In November 2022, he was awarded the title of Musical and Cultural Ambassador for Gambia in the UK & Europe from the High Commissioner of the Gambia in the UK.
Kadialy Kouyate
Kadialy Kouyate’s mesmerising kora skills are deeply rooted in his ancestral lineage of Kouyate griots. Born in southern Senegal, within the rich cultural tapestry of the Mandinka people, he naturally absorbed the traditional griot repertoire from an early age. Embracing this art of Senegalese storytelling, he soon forged his own path as a musician, singer and songwriter.
Kaito Winse
Singer, dancer and multi-instrumentalist Kaito Winse is the guardian of the rich oral traditions of his homeland. Born in the middle of the desert into a family of griots in Lankoué, a village in the north of Burkina Faso, Kaito had only to bend down to pick up the legacy.
Suntou Susso
Suntou Susso is a multi-instrumentalist: Kora player, percussionist, singer and composer from The Gambia. Born a Griot in a 700-year-old tradition, the Kora – harp-lute with 22 strings – is unique to the Griots of the Mandinka people. Griots have a unique societal role as oral historians, transmitting and preserving a people’s culture through the generations in song, music and poetry.
Josh Doughty
Josh Doughty began playing the kora (a West African 21-stringed harp) when he was eight years old. First learning from his father, Adam Doughty, Josh soon developed a fascination for the instrument and would practice for hours on end, rewinding and replaying cassette tapes of kora masters and figuring out how to play along.