There, Stein would come to understand a centuries-old tradition and become one of the first foreign journalists in history to see the Sosso-Bala, an 800-year-old balafon that dates back to the ...

The story goes that back in the 13th century, when the emperor Sundiata overthrew the villainous Soumaora Kante, and appointed the Kouyaté family to protect the original balafon - the Sosso Bala.