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Biography of Pa Bobo Jobarteh
| Pa Bobo Jobarteh was born into one of The Gambia’s most famous Jali families, a family whose musical tradition in West Africa began many generations ago in the eighteenth century. His Father is Malamini Jobarteh (formerly manager of The Gambia National Troup, now retired from music), his grandfather was Kelung Jobarteh and his great grandfather Wandifery Jobarteh, all masters of the kora.
Pa Bobo started playing the kora when he was 6 years old and in 1988, at the age of 11 he performed at WOMAD in the UK to large audiences both in Cornwall and Reading.
In 1988, Pa Bobo formed the Kaira Band, which features his two younger brothers, Bai and Dembo, on drums and kora and the wonderful Mandika voice of his sister, Siffai. Together, they began to play at naming and wedding ceremonies throughout The Gambia. |
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Nowadays, Pa’s rising popularity in The Gambia comes as a result of his adaptations & progression with the musical traditions of his birth. Pa Bobo continues the Jali tradition of his ancestors, a tradition of hereditary musicians and poets, providing music, official praise, oral history and social advice to the rulers of the Mandinka people. |
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| Pa Bobo is one of The Gambia’s foremost musical artists: a kora player, a singer, a bard, and a ‘Jali’ of the Mandinka people. Pa, along with his elder brother Tata Dindin, is cited in the Rough Guide to World Music (vol. 1 p 618) as spearheading ‘a revival in Mandinka music’, a ‘relentless tumbling dance music’. He has been recommended by The Gambia’s President Jammeh and its Art’s Council and was a natural choice to represent The Gambia with his song Peace, Love and Unity, which has become an unofficial national anthem, played daily on Gambian radio and television. |  |
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1999
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Kaira Naata (Real World Records, UK)
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2000
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Duwa (Pa Bobo and The Kaira Band)
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2001
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Pa’s song, ‘Peace Love and Unity’, featured on a compilation album produced by Gambian Radio and Television
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2003
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Pa Bobo was the featured Kora player on album recorded with Senegalese rap band, Tim Tim Mol
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2003
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Pa Bobo Unplugged - acoustic, solo album
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2006
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New CD from Pa Bobo and The Kaira Band to be released in early 2006
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1988
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Womad Reading and Cornwall
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1997
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Womad UK and Seattle
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1998
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Womad Singapore and Australia
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1999
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African Trade Fair in Tripoli, Libya representing The Gambia and travelling with President Jammeh.
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2003
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Toured Senegal with Tim Tim Mol
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2004
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Toured The Gambia
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2005
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Various events in UK including performances in Brighton, Sheffield and Hebden Bridge
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Jalis at Jalikunda, the Jobarteh family compound in Brikama. |
