सव्दा  
§ Sound System
Lisbon, Portugal

Mbye Ebrima is a djéli: kora player, singer, composer and historian.

He was born in 1988 in The Gambia, where he lived most of his life.

He comes from the family of djélis, both on the part of his mother, as his father. His father, Alagi Mbye, is currently one of the best kora players in The Gambia. He is also the oral historian who tells the history in a weekly national radio program. His father’s elder brothers also plays kora, and his paternal grandfather is a great kora master. But the kora players are also in the family of his mother: her father, grandfather and brother also play kora. His mother, Jabou Susso, is djélimuso and she dedicated herself to singing. Mbye has music in his blood but he also has the gift that allowed him to develop quickly the art of playing kora, although he has started to learn relatively late.

Mbye Ebrima lived his childhood and adolescence with his mother and her brother, Solo Susso (djéli kora master) in Brikama. During this period he dedicated himself completely to his studies and did not give too much attention to the kora of his uncle. 

At 16 he went to visit his father in Surkunda and he decided to move there, to spend some time with him. It was there that one day he decided to try to play kora and asked one of his father's students to teach him one song. From then on he has never stopped. He was spending whole days practicing, rapidly evolving and surprising his family and friends.
A few months later he began to accompany his stepmother, a djélimusso, at her singing actuations. He began to be known and considered a good player. Sometimes he did duets with his father or even trios with his father and his brother.
At 22 he began to teach. When his father was traveling, he used to give lessons to his father's students.

At the same time, along with his friends, he created the group called Mama Africa. They played afro-Mandingue music with a very specific groove, which attracted the audience, not only in The Gambia. The group - composed of kora, balafon, drums, percussion, keyboard and saxophone - acted in several places in The Gambia and also in Senegal. 

He was also a part of the Kora Symphony group, created by the Gambian President, which consisted of 30 kora players. He was one of the six fixed group members and several times he was the soloist of the group. The Kora Symphoy acted in various official ceremonies.

At 25 he decided to meet other cultures and countries and left for Senegal. After a few weeks in the neighboring country, he went to Zimbabwe and then to Tanzania, where he spent about 8 months, teaching the kora music at the Dhow Countries Music Academy  (DCMA) in Zanzibar. He has participated in music festivals in Tanzania, recorded a program for South African television, and tried to play taabar – the local music – on his kora.

In Tanzania he met the director of the German company Mama Africa. The person, after listing to his kora interpretations, invited him to be part of this group. After two weeks, with the signed contract, Mbye Ebrima landed in Europe. With Mama Africa Company he made several concert tours in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In February 2015 he visited Lisbon and he liked this multicultural and open city, and the people who wanted to listen to his kora and to his history. He decided to settle here for a few months. In addition to acting solo, he created and makes part of several projects. He has already performed in several stages of the Portuguese capital and he also gave the concerts in Porto, Algarve, Ponta Delgada and soon he is going play in other portuguese cities. He was invited to perform in the program “Conversas ao Sul” of RTPÁfrica and to the programme "Música sem espinhas" de Nuno Sardinha on RDPÁfrica. His last concert at B.Leza (13th Jan 2016) was recorded by RTP and it will be emited on television very soon.


Followers of Mbye Ebrima