Alhaji Bai Konte

Alhaji Bai Konte (b. 1920; d. 1982 or 1983) was a jali (praise singer) from Brikama, Gambia. He played the 21-string kora and is believed to have been the first kora player to perform and tour in the United States as a soloist, playing at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival. (Les Ballets Africains, a dance and music group from Guinea, had first performed in the U.S. in 1959, and featured a kora player.)

Alhaji Bai Konte (b. 1920; d. 1982 or 1983) was a jali (praise singer) from Brikama, Gambia. He played the 21-string kora and is believed to have been the first kora player to perform and tour in the United States as a soloist, playing at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival.

(Les Ballets Africains, a dance and music group from Guinea, had first performed in the U.S. in 1959, and featured a kora player.) His sons Dembo Konte and Sherrifo Konteh (sic) live in Brikama, Gambia. Two LP recordings have been released of Alhaji Bai Konte with Dembo Konte and Malamini Jobarteh. Jali Sherrifo Konteh has released two CDs, 'Mansalou' and 'Chesano', and tours the UK most years. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..