Alhaji Papa Susso (Suntu) is a

griot A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. The griot is a repos ...

or jeli, master kora player, and director of the Koriya Musa Center for Research in Oral Tradition. He was born 29 September 1947, in the village of Sotuma Sere in the Upper River Division of The Republic of Gambia,

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

. The Susso family represents a dynasty of traditional oral historians and praise singers. His father taught him to play the kora, a 21-stringed, lute-like instrument, when he was five years old. Papa Susso's ancestors were instrumental in the creation, as well as the development of the instrument for over two centuries.

Education and public service career

Susso attended Bakadaji Primary School from 1953 to 1960 and enrolled at the Armitage High School, Georgetown, The Gambia, from 1960–1965, where he graduated with honors. Thereafter, he received an appointment as Agricultural Assistant in the Ministry of Agricultural and Natural Resources. Upon receiving a scholarship to Cuttington University, Suacoco, Liberia, he quit that post. He received a bachelor of arts degree in business administration in 1969. Returning to The Gambia, Susso embarked on a career in the civil service, receiving an appointment as Senior Accountant in the Ministry of Work and Communications. Other posts included Financial Attaché and Liaison Officer for The Gambia Embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone; he was accreditedt as well to the Republic of Liberia, Guinea and The Ivory Coast.

Performing career

Susso ended his civil service career in order to resume his traditional role, becoming the chief kora player of The Gambia National Cultural Troupe under the Ministry of Education and Culture. In 1974, he left that position, founding his own cultural organization: The Manding Music and Dance Limited. The new organization sought to conduct research on Manding history, traditions and ethnomusicology, while providing assistance, particularly in business management, for traditional Manding performers. More generally, MMDL sought to revive, preserve and disseminate knowledge and appreciation of traditional Manding musical arts. His signature performances include selections from the traditional epic in celebration of Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire and an original composition in honor of the

Apollo XI Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and ...

astronauts. Susso, now based equally in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

and in the Gambia, travels widely, and has been a premier performer in the "American Classic African Portraits" by

Hannibal Peterson Hannibal Lokumbe (born Marvin Peterson on November 11, 1948) is an American jazz trumpeter. Career A native of Smithville, Texas, United States, he is sometimes known by the name "Hannibal". He attended high school in Texas City, Texas and was i ...

. He performed at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

's Carnegie Hall twice, for the

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and Chicago Symphonies, the Louisiana Philharmonic of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and Kazumi Watanabe Opera,

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Most of his time is spent giving performances in schools, from elementary through university levels, and discussing his art with students and faculty, giving both classroom presentations and formal concert performances. Susso has also been appointed as Regents' Lecturer in ethnomusicology in 1991 at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

, Santa Barbara, He appears alone with his kora or with his ensemble that includes singer/dancer Tapa Demba, balafonist Bala Kouyate and his son, Alhassan Susso, on second kora.

References

External links

Poetry Africa:How Kora was born (as sung by Papa Susso to Bob Holman)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Susso, Papa Susso, Papa Susso, Papa Cuttington University alumni Living people Alumni of Armitage High School 1947 births Griots