African Roots
The musical tradition of the West African griots (jali), who have carried the history and stories of the Mande empire since the 13th century through oral transmission. Its microtonal bends and speech-like improvisatory singing became the scale and soul that the blues inherited as the "blue note." "Cordes Anciennes" (1970) by Sidiki Diabaté and Djelimady Sissoko was the first recording devoted entirely to the kora.