Music of West Africa: The Mandinka and their Neighbors DVD Consumer Version

Includes one DVD and one CD, notes, maps and photos!

Another exclusive new Lyrichord/Multicultural Media DVD and Data CD on the field work of Roderic Knight Ph.D.

This DVD presents ten historical scenes, captured on 8mm film at a time when portable video had not yet emerged as a viable medium.  Eight of the scenes were filmed by Roderic Knight; two were contributed by renowned Gambian expert David Gamble.  With the invaluable assistance of Elio Trabal, OC 2004, the footage has been lifted from the confines of the author's classroom to the present format, enabling its presentation to a wider public.  The total duration is 33 minutes.

Each scene focuses on a specific event or musical group.  Five are devoted to regional sub-groups of the broad Mande culture:  The Mandinka of The Gambia, the Koranko of Guinea, and the Serahuli of Mali.  The other five scenes feature the Fula, Balanta, and Jola people.  Also included are glimpses of the Super Eagles, a popular Gambian band, and the first Gambian president, Sir Dawda Jawara, speaking at a political rally.

Included in the package is a supplementary CD-ROM containing a documentary booklet and a slide show.   The 24-page booklet in pdf format provides a socio-historical introduction to all the ethnic groups, song texts in Mandinka with English translation, information on the film sessions, and two song transcriptions.  The 59 slides in jpeg format include captions to facilitate classroom presentation, and are further documented in the booklet.  Intended to provide additional contextual material for the scenes in the video, they include a map of West Africa, scenes ranging from the streets of Banjul, fishing boats, peanut trucks and markets, to isolated forest roads and mountain villages.  They also include photos keyed to each video clip for a closer look at the musicians and their instruments.

This is the consumer version that contains no public performance rights.
The performance rights version is here.


Click here for video sample #1.

Click here for video sample #2.

Click here for video sample #3.

Click here for video sample #4.