By Yunus S Saliu
Jali Yusupha Suso, one of undoubtedly the happiest and most dynamic cultural musicians and balafon players in The Gambia who had learned the trade of music and playing balafon from his father, Mawdo Suso, a historian and popular balafon player.
Yusupha is one of the very few young Gambian cultural musicians who not only performs in Gambian or Senegambian languages but also sings in English at home and away, depending on where he is performing.
Famous Jali Yusupha Suso was born to a griot family of Suso whose father is a great traditional musician who tells stories, praises singing, plays balafon, even manufactures it, and also a music and instrument playing instructor. Besides, the quality in him is a typical trait of his father, Jali Mawdo Suso.
Though, in this present generation, copying Western musicians in all ways such as dancing, singing, types of instruments, composition of music, and dressing overshadowing cultural music but few musicians in the like of Jali Yusupha continue upholding the situation in taking it back to its glory days.
Jali Yusupha Suso, popularly called Yusupha-Jalinding when he was young, a name they still called him in his hometown Sukuta, plays balafon and other instruments, he writes music, and also uses music to narrate stories that people fell in love with across the country and beyond the shore of The Gambia.
As a Jali, like other Jali lineages, in any shows or concerts that he performs, he uses music to talk about the histories, and culture of the Gambia and Senegambia in general.
However, one will wonder how easy it is for him to become versatile in narrating stories of the past centuries through talking, singing, and the same time playing balafon, even how he started this career.
With a little smile, Jali Yusupha said “Maybe I should say it is our inheritance in the family, being a Jali doesn’t make you talk, narrate stories only, or relegate you to playing only instrument but all I’m doing now is inherited from my seventh generations because they were all Jalis, and professional Jalis for that matter.”
In a better explanation of the Jalis’ lineage, he said “I’m a Madinka man the Kuyatehs are the Jalis if you come from the Manding and any surname called Kuyateh either you are singing, playing music or not you are a Jali. Then Suso can be a Jali through learning, however, the Jalis can be identified through their surnames which examples are Kuyatehs Jobartehs, Kamasos, and so on. But nowadays, we are all Jalis because it started all from the seventh generation but normally the Kuyatehs are the Jalis.”
Yusupha Suso was born Jali, the first son of his parents so when he was born his father became his first and only teacher to teach him the trade of music as his biological son this made it easier for him.
“I started playing with my father when I was between the ages of three and four because I had to go with him everywhere hence they cannot leave me behind at home. So when we go out I played along with him, and people and fans started identifying and knowing me because I was young then and they called me Yusupha-Jalinding (meaning Yusupha the small Jali),” he explained.
In 2021, “My father finally allowed me to go out alone to talk or narrate histories to people and perform like I used to do with him. Before this period, I used to perform but not with his final authority until 2021 when accepted and allowed me because then he was satisfied that I’m qualified and capable of doing it.”
Since Jali Yusupha got his independence and blessing from his father he is been up and down, in and out of the Gambia performing for people attending concerts many times in Scandinavia (where they even produced albums), Asia, Europe, and some other countries in Africa to promote culture by narrating the histories of his country and culture.
Falling in love with him and his culture, his fans described him as a fish in the water because everyone likes listening to his narration and tunes from the balafon he plays.
However, although Jali Yusupha Susso and his siblings are educated and graduates in different fields, still they have a passion for music. They play instruments, sing, and dance “It is from this music we start providing for our daily needs. It is our life no matter how rich or famous we are; music is our number one uniform.”
Like his father, Jali Yusupha also manufactures balafons, and teaches students music and how to play balafons. He described their compound as a big tree with different branches due to the fact that it accommodates different people from different backgrounds who stay there to learn music.
Meanwhile, the balafon according to him is one of the African oldest instruments that other instruments can tune to because the balafon cannot be tuned to other instruments and wherever there is a balafon before playing it you greet it in its tune. This beautiful instrument is made up of seven death things as they called them it includes the rosewood burn in the fire, the ropewhich you will use to tight them together, the bamboo tree, calabash also is among, plastic, porridge/glue (traditionally porridge is recommended), tree sap of Gmelina tree.
