City Winery: SONA JOBARTEH

Africa’s first female Griot Kora virtuoso and singer, Sona Jobarteh creates a fine blend of traditional music, blues and Afropop.

Coming from a revered dynasty of West African Griots, Sona plays the Kora, an African harp; taught primarily by her father Sanjally Jobarteh since 4, additionally at London's Royal College of Music in composition bringing a uniqueness, that has attracted 19 million YouTube views of "The Gambia"
The Kora is played exclusively by a few ancient Manding families of West Africa; Sona leads, as vocalist and Kora player, a soft rock band playing a mix of her ancestral cultural heritage, western classical music and rock:

Live, Jobarteh brings astonishing energy and vibrance to her annual schedule of 60 plus concerts worldwide. She says of her live work -“It makes Africans really feel something, to see that someone is being respected to sing in their own language, dress in their own clothes, play their own music. That is a message not just for Gambians — it’s for the whole African continent.” New York Times Oct 2021

Born into the male-dominated Griot tradition, she’s a musical pioneer.