King Kora

Bio

Born on 14 February 1966, Lamin Jobarteh, best known as King Kora is a Gambian Afromanding artist. He started music in the early 1990s when he was 16 years old. He draws his inspiration from his late father Amadou Joof Jobarteh, a traditional griot who was part of The Gambia National Troupe.

From 1991 to 1997, he was in Senegal studying musicology at Ecole Dezaar in Dakar. He studied both theory and practical. In early 1999, he met Alagie Secka, a Gambian based in Swiss who linked him to one lady called Mariam, a pop singer who financed his trip to Swiss. In 2001 and 2002, she invited him to perform at a Jazz festival in Swiss. While in Swiss, he met Rodger, another Swiss saxophonist. They worked together and recorded a demo tape. They later formed a band called King Kora’s. The band is made up of eleven members. They released their first single titled ‘Material Woman’ followed release by the release of a debut album called ‘King Kora’.

In 2005, they came to The Gambia for a six months research about Kora. They returned after releasing their second album entitled ‘Bundung’. In 2006, he won ‘Best of Swiss’ award courtesy of his ten-track debut album entitled ‘King Kora’. In 2007, King Kora and his band embarked on river excursion tour in The Gambia where they played in many towns and villages. In 2010, he released a third album called ‘Mandingda’. The project is a collection of club music featuring artists from Senegal, Swiss, Gambia, America and South Africa.

GMBanjul, Gambia

Contact

+2209988328
King Kora
Profile added by Bakary Ceesay on 29 Apr 2016
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