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30 albums · 1969–2025

Music of the Gambia, from the kora of Brikama to Ifang Bondi, Jaliba Kuyateh, Sona Jobarteh and today

· 1 min read · by 1001 Albums

Sona Jobarteh playing the kora on stage
A jali seated with his kora in a compound in the GambiaJuldeh Camara singing and bowing the one-string riti on stage
Sona Jobarteh with her kora at the Rudolstadt festival in 2015. Photo: Schorle, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · A jali, Mamadou, with his kora in the Gambia. Photo: Nadielle, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Juldeh Camara with the riti on stage with Justin Adams in 2010. Photo: p_a_h, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Gambia's popular music begins with the kora and the jalis who play it, Alhaji Bai Konte and Jali Nyama Suso in the seventies, Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, Dembo Konte and Foday Musa Suso, who took it to Chicago, and goes on through the Super Eagles of Banjul and their afro-manding turn as Ifang Bondi, Laba Sosseh's salsa, the kora pop of Jaliba Kuyateh and his Kumareh Band from Brikama, the mbalax of Ousou Njie, Juldeh Camara's riti beside Justin Adams's guitar, the reggae of Rebellion the Recaller and Singateh, Dawda Jobarteh's kora in Copenhagen, and today Sona Jobarteh, Jizzle and ST Brikama Boyo. The list has 30 records from 1969 to 2025, one or two by each name and only a small part of what they made; the jali families beyond these few, the kutiro drumming of the villages, the balafon, Guelewar and Musa Ngum, whose records never reached streaming, and the many cassettes that never did either are left for other lists. About 26 hours of music, 3 days of a few records each.

By genre

World 40%Hip hop 3%Reggae 3%Other 54%
  • World 40%
  • Hip hop 3%
  • Reggae 3%
  • Other 54%

The genres named most: gambian, afro-manding, kora, jali, mbalax, afro-pop.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 1 country: Gambia 30. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2000s

The 2010s

The 2020s

More lists

Lists of Countries first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.