L'Epopée Du Gabu En Casamance

Released in 1986 under the RFI (Radio France Internationale) label, this recording captures the oral history and musical legacy of the Gabu empire in the Casamance region. It serves as a vital archival effort to preserve the griot traditions of the Mandinka people, featuring renowned practitioners Famara Diabaté, Demba and Dielimani Cissoko, and Lamine Konté. The production was part of an initiative to document traditional West African music for a global audience, ensuring that the complex kora compositions and historical narratives were captured with clarity.

The album is representative of the field recordings often curated by RFI during the 1980s, designed to highlight the intellectual and cultural richness of Senegalese musical lineage. Lamine Konté, a prominent figure in modernizing the perception of the kora, worked alongside fellow masters to present a cohesive narrative of the Gabu. While not aimed at the pop charts of the era, the record is highly regarded among ethnomusicologists and collectors of African acoustic music for its technical preservation of traditional vocal and instrumental techniques.