Edouard Manga says that his relationship with the kora is based on love. He is not from a griot background, which is the ethnic group (also called jali families) the kora was originated by. But because music is a form of communication in West Africa, he heard it as a child and fell in love with it. His first experience with the kora was quite meaningful. He heard it in the monastery with the monks who use it in their spiritual practices. Inspired by the sounds he heard, he picked up the kora for the first time.
When he attended academy, he didn’t plan to focus on the kora or traditional techniques. He was there to learn modern music through the bass. But when he discovered a traditional class, he was excited and felt called to pick up the kora again. That’s how it all started.
He shared, “In my mind, music is for sharing. I came to Senegal and met Pape Armand and other great musicians, and we shared a lot. Everything just happened spontaneously. Things continued to occur for all of us like this, together. We shared our music with the greater world because deep down in us, there is a universe. And that universe in us is boundless. So for me, music is like a trip. I go where my inspirations take me to.”
