Biography:

Dembo Jobarteh is a griot from Niani Kayai, The Gambia. In the past griots were court musicians, singing  praise of their leaders and thereby telling the history of the region.  Dembo was brought up in the traditional griot way. He worked in the groundnut and rice paddies, studying kora and drums in his spare time. 

At the age of 18 Dembo was a professional koraplayer and singer. He went to Dakar, Senegal and played in restaurants and tourist markets. After two years he came back to The Gambia. Here he founded the Gambian Griot School of Music and Dance.

Dembo Jobarteh is a nephew of Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, the famous kora-player and teacher of world music specialist Lucy Duran. Another famous familymember is Malamini Jobarteh, father of Tata Dindin. 

Listen All

In 2003 Dembo Jobarteh recorded Listen All . The cd contains eleven songs. Four are traditional songs from The Gambia, the others were written by Dembo. It's the first recording on which he is accompanied by female singers.

Over the past few years Dembo Jobarteh has made three albums. He also recorded with the Dancehall Masters, one of The Gambia's most popular groups.

This is his first cd that is released worldwide through the internet.  

Beat the drums

Dembo hopes to get get in touch with music lovers and musicians from around the world. "I'd like to live in the U.S.A. for a while like Foday Musa Suso" he says. "To hear Cajun in Louisiana, the Blues in the deep south and Hip Hop in Chicago. To go to Cuba and beat the drums to a hot Salsa. To record with other artists, like Youssou N'dour. To bring my music to all those people outside my country. That's why I named this cd Listen All ."