Foday Musa Suso - The Two Worlds

Internationally renowned musician Foday Musa Suso is a Mandingo griot (musician/oral historian of the Mandingo people) born in Gambia, West Africa. Suso grew up in a society where griots function as walking libraries, singing their stories for the community while providing history, wisdom, and entertainment. With this new album 'The Two Worlds', Suso gives virtuosic performances on the kora - the West African 21-stringed harp lute - of his own melodically attractive compositions. Known also as a drummer and composer as well as a recording artist for many labels, Suso has collaborated with artists like the Kronos Quartet (which has commissioned five works from him to date), and he continues to perform internationally at the world's most prestigious venues. Suso spent his childhood on a Gambian peanut farm, studying music and history as an heir to the hereditary griot lineage. After years of rigorous study he left his homeland and established himself in Chicago in the 1970s. Since that time he has performed throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Interested in both traditional and cutting edge idioms, he has toured and recorded with many prominent musicians including Jack DeJohnette (Music From the Hearts of the Masters, on the Golden Beams label), Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders and Ginger Baker. Suso has performed on several film soundtracks including Roots, Powaqqatsi and Mountain of the Moon, and is the leader and founder of the fusion jazz band, The Mandingo Griot Society. Foday Musa Suso was one of seven artists (others included UAKTI and Ravi Shankar) representing very different musical cultures in Philip Glass's 'Orion', a work for soloists and ensemble commissioned for the Cultural Olympiad in Athens in 2004 and subsequently released by Orange Mountain. Personnel: Foday Musa Susa - kora