Sona Jobarteh is the first professional female Kora virtuoso to come from a West African Griot (storyteller/musician) family. She performed Malian love song 'Jarabi' (Beloved) live for RNZ Music ahead of the WOMAD festival in Taranaki.
Sona Jobarteh is a modern pioneer in an ancient, male-dominated hereditary tradition that has been exclusively handed down from father to son for the past seven centuries.
'Jarabi' is a love song, and one of the most popular of Kora songs.
