Sona Jobarteh: Live at The Ordway

“Sona Jobarteh is Africa’s first female griot kora virtuoso, and also a fine singer and composer, blending traditional music, blues and Afropop to impressive effect”  – The Guardian

Preserving her musical past, Sona Jobarteh innovates to support a more humanitarian future.

The spirit of Sona Jobarteh’s musical work stands on the mighty shoulders of The West African Griot tradition. Now, she is a living archive of the Gambian people. She is preparing a place today for the next generation. She does this with one ear on the family’s historic reputation, one on the all-important future legacy and her heart in both. Thus, her singing and kora playing while fronting her band spring directly from this tradition. The extent of her recognition today is evidenced by 23-plus million YouTube views and considerable numbers on other digital platforms. Furthermore, she accomplishes all this singing in her native languages and keeping to her own path within the music industry.

Jobarteh’s live performances and speaking engagements zoomed to fifty-two performances with twelve sell-outs in 2019, and sixty-seven in 2022. Then, she completed fifteen U.S. dates from the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles to Symphony Space in New York. Sona’s European audiences have grown: she sells out the 1200-seat Barbican in London, 1200-seat Seine Musicale in Paris, and 2000-seat Philharmonie in Cologne. These band performances are underpinned by her early days at London’s RCM and Purcell School of Music. She scored the film Motherland in 2010 and by 2022 scored some of the Hollywood blockbuster Beast starring Idris Elba. Also, she co-wrote a track on LL Cool J’s latest with Q Tip and filmed several of her live shows for CBS’ 60 Minutes.

Sona’s dedication to spreading powerful humanitarian messages through her songs and stage performances makes her much more than a musician. Here, she is active in social change and leads by her own example.

Recommended for fans of Toumani Diabaté, Fatoumata Diawara, Oumou Sangaré and Orchestra Baobab.

LEARN MORE: https://sonajobarteh.com/

📸: Rob O’Connor