"With one balafon, you have seven notes ... playing an instrument "with sticks to produce a wonderful sound." Centuries later, enslaved Malians would bring their melisma singing style, call ...

As a boy in Mali, Balla Kouyaté remembers playing the balafon to motivate workers on a farm. He was so small, he had to stand on a large rock to be seen by the crowd. An opportunity like that ...

Paukum Bassi is a Cameroonian balafon musician. He plays an instrument that is a type of struck idiophone. Known as balafon, the sort of xylophone can be constructed of animal hors, skins and wood.

The balafon, a musical instrument from West Africa, is being considered for inclusion on Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The instrument is built up from 17 to 21 wooden slats on top of ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

The balafon (in Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire) and kolintang (in Indonesia) refer to a set of wooden xylophones of different lengths. The Indonesian and West African instruments share ...

In conversation with balafon player Mamadou Diabate ahead of his performance in the city Born into a Griot family in Burkina Faso, known for their tradition of practising storytelling and music ...