Sona Jobarteh
Africa's first female kora player mixes traditional West African and Gambian music with Afropop and blues.
She is Africa’s first female kora player and mixes traditional West African and Gambian music with Afropop and blues.
When Sona Jobarteh arrives on Swedish soil, it is the Stockholm Jazz Festival and Nalen that have the great honor of opening the gates for this magical singer and kora player.
Sona Jobarteh was born in London into one of the Mandinka’s five kora-playing griot families. Sona’s grandfather Amadu Bansang Jobarteh and her cousin Toumani Diabaté are both legendary practitioners of the 21-string instrument traditionally played by men. Sona Jobarteh breaks that tradition.
Jobarteh has been playing the instrument since she was three years old. As an adult, she has studied cello, piano and harpsichord alongside the kora. The second record Fasiya was released in 2011 and was the starting point for her reputation as a kora player. It was not until 2022 that second full-length Badinyaa Kumoo arrived.
Sona Jobarteh has played with, among others, Oumou Sangaré, Ballaké Sissoko and Toumani Diabaté, written film music and invented a new instrument, a mix between the large kora and the smaller instrument ngoni which she calls Nkoni.
Sona Jobarteh’s stage presence is electric and with her playing and singing in Mandinka, she has conquered a large audience worldwide with her strong message of equality, love and respect.
Promoter: Stockholm Jazz Festival