Biography:
Daniel Laemouahuma Jatta
is a Jola musician of the akonting or ekonting
folk lute from the Gambian village of Mandinary near Lamin,
Western Region. He is also a scholar having conducted ground
breaking research which began in the mid-1980s into the
Jola's main traditional folk instrument, the
akonting, and who, to many, convincingly
established the origins
of the American Banjo
in West Africa. The word Banjo, Jatta states, originates
from the Mandinka word "bangoe", from where the name of the
Gambian capital, Banjul, was derived.
The origins of the akonting are rooted in the Casamance
region of south-west Senegal. It is a plucked lute with a drum-like gourd body
(either round or shaped like a water droplet), a full-spike
stick neck, and three strings (two long melody strings and
one short drone string akin to the "thumb string" on the
5-srting Banjo.
In the mid-1980s, the tradition of constructing and
playing the akonting was little known outside the rural Jola
villages spread out within Senegambia. Even within these Jola
communities, there were a limited number of young people who
showed an interest in
continuing the akonting musical tradition. Recognizing this
fact, Daniel Jatta's father - a traditional akonting player
himself - urged him to learn akonting and keep alive this
important part of their cultural inheritance.
In 2000, after over a decades' research work by Daniel
Jatta the Swedish scholar on the history of the Banjo, Ulf Jägfors,
presented him and his findings to the global banjo community
at the Third Annual Banjo Collectors Gathering in Concord,
Massachusetts. The conference is made up of antique banjo
collectors, historians of the instrument and organology.
For the community this was quite a surprise. Since the 1960s
it was believed that the banjo had its roots in the jali
lutes such as the Wollof xalam, the Fulani hoddu and the
Mandinka's ngoni etc. However, the early banjos shared none
of the physical characteristics of the standard griot lutes,
except for a short thumb string. Daniel Jatta was able to
establish for the first time that the Akonting players were
using the same claw / hammer technique as did the early
minstrel Banjo players of 1830 -1840 who called themselves
the Virginia Minstrels, claiming that their music was from
the black people.
His findings have now been documented
by the Washington-based Smithsonian
Institute.
Daniel Jatta's research was backed by the
International Cultural Centre, Stockholm. His current
residence is Sweden.
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