Book the Sissoko Griots for Your Wedding in Bamako — Epoche B1
Sissoko Family Griots — weddings and naming days, Bamako A wedding without a griot is a quiet room. For the music, and for the history, book a family that carries both. What a griot does A griot — jeli in Bambara — is more than a singer. Griots keep family histories. At the wedding, the griot stands before the guests and sings the two family lines: the fathers and grandfathers, the villages the names come from, the deeds each family is remembered for. The oldest guests know these names better than any book, so every name must be right. Why not simply hire a good singer? Because nobody chooses this work. In Mali a person is born a griot or is not one. The griot families are known to everyone — Kouyaté, Diabaté, Sissoko — and their children begin learning names and songs at home, years before they touch the kora, the harp with 21 strings. The Kouyaté line traces its work back to Balla Fasséké, griot to the emperor Sundiata, seven centuries ago. A friend with a fine voice can sing at a wedding; he cannot answer for your grandfather's grandfather. How a booking works Come at least one month before the day. Sit down with the elders of the troupe. Give the full names of both families, and their home villages. The griots do their work. If two elders remember a great-uncle differently, someone travels and asks. On the day: kora, balafon and voice, from the arrival of the first guests until both families have been sung. The fee is agreed in advance. Guests who hear their family praised well will give more during the singing itself; that is the custom, and nobody should stop them. References Mbiti, J. S. (1969). African Religions and Philosophy. Heinemann. Wieland, R. (2019). The Wisdom of African Proverbs: A Collection for Daily Reflection. Independently published.