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Jaliba Kuyateh is the legendary Gambian artist in the area of performing arts who contributed greatly to the promotion of Gambian culture and the development of African and Gambian music in particular. He composed many songs conveying messages to the people on social issues and delivered services free of charge to build schools, religious centers and health centers.In this exclusive interview we managed to discuss his influence Gambian music, how his career in music came about and some of the highlights of his career so far……. How did you become a Kora player? Playing Kora is from a family tradition; I was born and found my father playing this instrument. My father was a good player of the Kora, so was his father, and his grand father. It just came naturally to me; I was introduced to this instrument at the age of 7 before I even went to school. My father was using the instrument to punish me when I did something wrong I had to sit in a confide space to master lessons before I was allowed to go out and play. This led me to have the elementary knowledge but I almost stopped playing when I was in school as it was too hard to combine the two. I was only playing during leisure and holidays. What made you to go back to playing the KORA then? When I completed my education I started teaching as a qualified teacher for one year in Bakau and towards the end of this year the interest of playing kora got back to me so I went and bought one. After a years teaching I had the opportunity to attend the Gambia College where I took my instrument along. I believe this was the time I became famous because it was amazing, for the first time somebody educated to my standard was being able to play on one of our cultural instruments at a very high level. It was the first of its kind. This was amazing to everyone and some people were even traveling to campus just to verify that fact that a student was performing. Through the help of Neneh McDoll who was then working at the radio station and Dembo Tambedou, these were the first people to arrange for me to play at the radio station and from there I was introduced to the Gambian audience. What subject were you teaching at school? When I graduated from the Gambia College, I was posted to Brikama Primary School, whilst there I was assigned the subject of mathematics. The style of teaching we had then is different to today’s style, we were specialized in further educating students in the subject they were best at. If one is good in math’s a special mathematics teacher will assigned to that individual etc… How did the name Jaliba come about? (laugh) So many people think that this is a title but its not just a title it’s a coincident. I was named after my grand father who was called Jaliba. When I was introduced at school this was the name given to the headmaster and it was the name written on the school register. It is my real name. A lot of people think there is another name than Jaliba but to the best of my knowledge I am not aware of one. What would you say is the highlight of your career so far? I am the person who fought to have music stagnant in the Gambia, after Fang Bondi & Magadane I was the one who came out to keep Gambian music alive. I faced so many difficulties but I said to myself that Gambian music must live on. When I started singing, because I was once a teacher, I was performing free of charge at many schools. That revenue which was generated helped to fund the building of many schools through out the Gambia. I have achieved a lot that will remain as positive memories in the minds of the Gambian people. I have now got great recognition worldwide; have done duets with great musicians such as Bill Summers who was at one stage playing with Michael Jackson, I have also joined up with one Norwegian lady who I met during performing in Oslo and she has been giving me great publicity through out Scandinavia. I believe I have achieved a lot during my career so far. You mentioned your collaboration with Bill Summers, have you done any collaborations with any Gambian artists? Yes, many of them in fact. I have done one with Mamanding Kuyateh called “lan na ya,” Freaky Joe on his Gambian anthem song. I often hear people telling me that because of my voice in that song is one of the reason they like that song. I have also done a recent one with Omar Jobe, a Gambian rapper based in London. I tell the young Gambian musicians that am always available to them should they need me free of charge. As a leading Gambian musician, apart from lending your voice what other contributions are you making to help develop our music? We are doing series of talks back home, on TV and Radio stations calling on young musicians to give advice, to encourage them to learn new instruments that will benefit the development of our music. We all need to come together and support each other to achieve bigger recognition in the music world. Do you sometimes feel annoyed or frustrated about how slow the music development in Gambia is compared to our Senegalese neighbors’? Yes, sometimes I get discourage but I know it’s just a sickness, a complex in our Gambian people. One should support its own but we get neglected. Even if someone is playing bad and with a lot of support that individual can reach a very high level and be on top of the world but because the Gambian musicians lack support from their own country people, the back worthness will still remain. If you look at the last show I played at rex, even some artists from Senegal will struggle to get that size of a crowd I managed to pull, but if that Senegalese artist was to play in Gambia his or her crowd will be far bigger than mine in my own country. It is our responsibility and the society’s responsibility to support us. This support will give us the lift we need, it will also give us musicians the believe and encouragement that can take us to another level. What is your reflex ion on the rex show? It was a great show organized by the Gambian United Society, the crowd turn out was excellent. I was very pleased because this has not been done before by any Gambian artist. It was wonderful. I am thanking all the fans who came, although the musician does good work and this is why people came therefore deserve a credit too. I did appreciate their support and contribution towards the development of Gambian music. Do you have any contact with the Gambian promoters here in London? No, they have not been consulting me. One of them once contacted me via Assis Vilan but nothing was materialized. How many albums have you released so far? I have released 11 albums in total, the one I am most proud of is the 1995 release called “Tissoli”. There is a song called “tereto” in that album which was a massive hit not only in Gambia but in Senegal as well. The success of that song enabled me to gained lots more respect and appreciation in both countries. Out of all my songs, “Tereto” is my favorite. (Laugh) Apart from music, are you involved in any other activities? Unfortunately not, I was playing football during my school days but time is really not in my favor to commit to any other activities. Do you miss teaching? Yes, because I love that professions but I still try to teach through my songs. I tend to sing about manners, how to educate kids, and about life in general etc… What does playing kora mean to you? I took it upon myself that this is an obligation for me; I want to carry on until I see the Gambia full of musicians. It is true that I am surviving through music, am feeding my family and so are my band members but it also brings me joy through entertaining others. What kind of music are you into during your spare time? I normally listen to Guinean & Fula music. Are there any upcoming artists coming up in the ranks that we should look out for? There are so many out there, the likes of freaky Joe, Sambu Suso, Tata Dinding, so many. I have two juniors in my own place who are presently learning from me and there are new artists coming up all the time, with other words its looking promising. Out of all the places you’ve played at, which one would you say stood out? Among all the trips I made, the one I enjoyed the most is the one I did in Paris 1993 with a full crowd of Gambian, Malian & Guinean. It was just amazing and it leaves me with great memories, it was a successful tour and it ended in Spain. That tour was just special. Why were you awarded the Gambian Good Will Ambassador by UNICEF? I have done too much work towards children, 75% of all my songs are geared towards kids and how to have good manners, how to educate children to become future leaders, most of my contributions are towards the kids of the Gambia as they will be future head of states and ministers etc.. Finally, are there any new albums coming up? I have two albums in the pipeline; hopefully they will be released before December. One of them was meant to be released last year but unfortunately we had a delay and this has led us to be releasing two at the same time. How can your fans get hold of your albums? There was no retailer arranged for the distribution but luckily one is in place now. As soon as the albums are released, they will be available in London the following week. Watch out for details of the albums and retailers on www.ukgambians.com UkGambians.com would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Jaliba Kuyateh for taking his time to conduct this exclusive interview with us and we are also wishing him good luck with his up coming albums.
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