Various Artists – Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and The Gambia (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2023)
“Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and The Gambia” decidedly represents the first album dedicated to West African ekonting music. Interestingly, the album also highlights the strong connection between the ekonting and the American banjo.
For many years, various scholars debated about the origin of the banjo. Some, like Pete Seeger, called attention to instruments like the Wolof xalam or the Mandinka ngoni as possible predecessors, but it took the effort of pioneering Gambian ethnomusicologist Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta (who also wrote the album’s introduction) to indicate that the Senegalese and Gambian ekonting (also spelled “akonting”) is a likely source. In the evening, after work, Jatta’s father played this three-stringed, gourd instrument popular among the Jola (also known as Diola) people of Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau.
“Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and The Gambia” highlights the current ekonting music panorama in Senegal and Gambia. The revealing and enthralling songs on this album were extracted from recordings in Senegal made by ethnomusicologist Scott Linford of nine ekonting players.
Quite a few of the songs are inspired by the competitiveness between West African wrestlers, although other songs speak of life and love, or of the tribulations of violence and conflict.
Despite being separated over centuries from the banjo, the West African ekonting’s distinctive strumming position (one finger strikes down on a longer string while the thumb follows after on a shorter string) is still at present one of the most popular banjo strumming techniques, known as “clawhammer banjo.”
Significantly, the ekonting is a folk instrument made by hand for the people who will enjoy it most. For that reason, it’s been rare to find many recordings of ekonting music. Work in the past decade put a spotlight on the ekonting and connected American musicians to the instrument, including banjo icons like Bela Fleck and Rhiannon Giddens, who played with ekonting players in The Gambia.
“Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and Gambia” was recorded in the Casamance borderlands region of southern Senegal, near to the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Scott Linford made these recordings in 2019 at village squares, adobe houses, and improvised studios.
The nine ekonting players present a fascinating and diverse representation of Senegalese society. The musicians include 71-year-old Abdoulaye Diallo, equally knowledgeable about both Islam and the Jola indigenous religion, whose songs move between personal and political storytelling. “Every song has a significance,” he says. “There is the song, but then there is the story behind the song.”
Jules Diatta leads a band called Sijam Bukan from his house in the village of Mlomp and performs songs that accompany Jola wrestling matches, especially the processionals that let the wrestlers strut their way through the village with a parade of supporters.
Virtuoso player Adama Sambou has toured Europe and is a prolific composer, writing many songs from his home, while ekonting legend Jeandum Djibalen was one of the first ekonting players to professionalize the instrument, moving it from the rice fields to the concert halls.
Elisa Diedhiou is one of the few women to play the ekonting, and the first to perform as a professional ekonting player. “People look at me like I’m crazy,” she says. “A woman with an ekonting! But when I go to Mlomp or Oussouye, lots of people come to see me play and all the old ladies say ‘Bravo! Bravo!’”
The last song of the album, “Ayinga Bañiil Dane Dibuke Ban” by Abdoulaye Diallo, contemplates the future of the ekonting in metaphorical terms. “It is our responsibility to take care of it,” he sings.
Buy Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and The Gambia
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.