Biography
Foday Musa Suso, a master of the kora who also composed and performed in the griot tradition, exerted a major presence in the worldbeat scene both prior to and after the impact of Paul Simon’s Graceland. Although the Gambian artist’s own recordings stayed grounded in the contemplative folk practices of his homeland, he repeatedly joined forces with boundary-crossing Western figures such as Bill Laswell, Herbie Hancock, and Philip Glass, blending West African elements with classical minimalism, free jazz, and avant-garde funk. Born in 1950 into a lineage of Mandingo griots whose roles as musicians, historians, and oral storytellers extended roughly a millennium, Suso grew up on a peanut farm and learned the 21-string kora from his father, Saikou Suso. At age ten he moved to a neighboring village for further study with an uncle; six years later a group of Western visitors paid for his flight to Sweden, where he spent six months performing solo in bars and restaurants across Scandinavia. In Stockholm he met a French accordionist, and the pair toured Europe for five years before Suso returned to Africa in 1974 to instruct kora students at the University of Ghana.
While on campus he encountered Chicago percussionist Adam Rudolph, prompting his relocation to that city in mid-1977. There he assembled the world-fusion ensemble Mandingo Griot Society alongside Rudolph, percussionist Hamid Drake, and bassist Joe Thomas. Their debut appearance at the Daley Center generated substantial press coverage and secured Suso a teaching post with the Illinois Arts Council. After only their second engagement the group signed with Flying Fish Records and, in 1978, cut their self-titled debut with Don Cherry on trumpet. A second album, Mighty Rhythm, followed in 1981, yet the unit disbanded once Rudolph moved to Los Angeles and Drake concentrated on his work with saxophonist Fred Anderson, leaving Suso to resume his solo path. In 1983 he reached out to Laswell after hearing the producer’s contributions to Hancock’s Future Shock, resulting in an invitation to appear on Hancock’s next release, Sound-System; the keyboardist subsequently asked Suso to join his touring band, yielding the live album Village Life in Japan.
Suso then issued his 1984 solo debut Watto Sitta on the Celluloid label, again employing the core Mandingo Griot Society rhythm section plus Hancock and djembe specialist Manu Washington. After he and Hancock co-headlined the 1986 concert recording Jazz Africa, Suso accompanied composer Philip Glass on a month-long journey through West Africa while Glass prepared the score for Godfrey Reggio’s film Powaqqatsi. Upon returning to the United States they agreed to collaborate further, ultimately composing music for the Guthrie Theater’s 1989 Minneapolis staging of Jean Genet’s The Screens. Glass’s minimalist approach shaped Suso’s own 1990 album Dreamtime, and the composer also introduced him to Kronos Quartet violinist David Harrington; in 1992 Suso contributed kora to the ensemble’s Pieces of Africa. The original Mandingo Griot Society lineup reconvened for the 1995 African Festival of the Arts, and the following year Suso’s work on the anthology Jali Kunda: Griots of West Africa and Beyond drew mainstream attention. Subsequent partnerships included sessions with jazz icons Pharoah Sanders and Jack DeJohnette, and in June 2004 he and Glass traveled to Athens to premiere Orion, a composition commissioned for the Summer Olympic Games.
While on campus he encountered Chicago percussionist Adam Rudolph, prompting his relocation to that city in mid-1977. There he assembled the world-fusion ensemble Mandingo Griot Society alongside Rudolph, percussionist Hamid Drake, and bassist Joe Thomas. Their debut appearance at the Daley Center generated substantial press coverage and secured Suso a teaching post with the Illinois Arts Council. After only their second engagement the group signed with Flying Fish Records and, in 1978, cut their self-titled debut with Don Cherry on trumpet. A second album, Mighty Rhythm, followed in 1981, yet the unit disbanded once Rudolph moved to Los Angeles and Drake concentrated on his work with saxophonist Fred Anderson, leaving Suso to resume his solo path. In 1983 he reached out to Laswell after hearing the producer’s contributions to Hancock’s Future Shock, resulting in an invitation to appear on Hancock’s next release, Sound-System; the keyboardist subsequently asked Suso to join his touring band, yielding the live album Village Life in Japan.
Suso then issued his 1984 solo debut Watto Sitta on the Celluloid label, again employing the core Mandingo Griot Society rhythm section plus Hancock and djembe specialist Manu Washington. After he and Hancock co-headlined the 1986 concert recording Jazz Africa, Suso accompanied composer Philip Glass on a month-long journey through West Africa while Glass prepared the score for Godfrey Reggio’s film Powaqqatsi. Upon returning to the United States they agreed to collaborate further, ultimately composing music for the Guthrie Theater’s 1989 Minneapolis staging of Jean Genet’s The Screens. Glass’s minimalist approach shaped Suso’s own 1990 album Dreamtime, and the composer also introduced him to Kronos Quartet violinist David Harrington; in 1992 Suso contributed kora to the ensemble’s Pieces of Africa. The original Mandingo Griot Society lineup reconvened for the 1995 African Festival of the Arts, and the following year Suso’s work on the anthology Jali Kunda: Griots of West Africa and Beyond drew mainstream attention. Subsequent partnerships included sessions with jazz icons Pharoah Sanders and Jack DeJohnette, and in June 2004 he and Glass traveled to Athens to premiere Orion, a composition commissioned for the Summer Olympic Games.
Albums
Live
