Foday Musa Suso
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Biography
Foday Musa Suso is a Gambian musician born on February 18, 1950 in Sarre Hamadi, member of the Mandingo griot caste and master of the kora, a traditional 21-string instrument. Trained from childhood in the oral and musical traditions of the griots, he moved to the United States in the 1970s, becoming one of the first African musicians to introduce the kora to contemporary and experimental music. In 1977, he founded the group Mandingo Griot Society with percussionist Hamid Drake and bassist Adam Rudolph, blending Mandingo music, jazz, funk and world music. This group marked a milestone in the fusion of African traditions and Western music, and released several landmark albums, including Mandingo Griot Society (1978) and Watto Sitta (1984). From the 1980s onwards, Foday Musa Suso also collaborated with minimalist composer Philip Glass on several projects, including the piece The Screens (1989) and the album Music from the Screens (1992), extending his work to contemporary music and the experimental classical scene. He also participates in Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul's Zawinul Syndicate project, bringing his voice, kora and culture to this world-renowned jazz fusion ensemble. Suso also joins the Planet Drum project led by former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, which brings together percussionists from different cultures around a global rhythmic language. In this context, he took part in the Grammy Award-winning Planet Drum album (1991) and subsequent tours. Always in the spirit of cultural exchange, he collaborated with Herbie Hancock on the albums Sound-System (1984) and Village Life (1985), and also worked with groups and artists such as Material with Bill Laswell, The Ripple Effect, Flying Mijinko Band, Autonomous Zone, Possession, Jack DeJohnette and the Kronos Quartet. A pioneer in the dialogue between African tradition and the Western avant-garde, he died in Brikama, Gambia, on May 25, 2025 at the age of 70.
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