Biography

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Roots

Black Africa
Africa is a multicultural continent of huge diversity from which we know very little, since most of its culture has remained hidden from the rest of the world for centuries. It's been transmitted orally from father to son, mother to daughter, without the need to write. This fact has contributed to its essence remaining intact, but has also avoided further spreading throughout the world. As a consequence, this culture is not yet understood by many people.

But times change, and what was incursion, conquest, war and slavery is now a large wave of development of a continent so large and varied, so enigmatic and mysterious. This is the time to make this culture known. Why not then, fusing it with that of other nations and achieving an exchange beneficial to all?

It was under this light that Nino came to Europe. He saw a way to bring to life the essence of African culture, as well as the instruments which accompany its rituals. This way had an international language: music. Whatever the differences between people, we all feel music, and in it search to awaken emotions, far off places or past memories. In this way music has an incomparable audience and humanity, because life does not exist without sound.

The Griots
The oral tradition of these societies has existed for many years. In musical traditions and ceremonial songs is the memory of their ancestors, myths, stories and historical battles preserved. This oral transmission of history is embellished by an instrument which was created for this purpose a long time ago: the kora.

The Griots are the inheritors and guardians of the Mandinga history in the West of Africa and have great importance within African culture. The legends, stories and proverbs are passed on orally from generation to generation. They used their instruments and knowledge at the royal courts. They were often considered the "announcers" of ceremonies and their ceremonial songs were an integrated part of political life.

More recently, the Griots, and among them Nino Galissa, found their way in the fusion of modern and traditional music, preserving the stories that have been passed to them by their predecessors, and probably here lies one of the greatest treasures of African music.

The Kora
The Kora is the most beautiful and well known string instrument of West Africa. It belongs to the Griot culture and has its origin in the royal courts centuries ago. Its sound, its reason for existence and the context in which it was created, give it a unique value.

The materials used also have their meaning: The gourd used to shape the body of the instrument symbolises the earth; the wood used for the neck and the bridge next to the strips that support the strings, represents the plants. The leather that covers the gourd like a drum, represents the animals, and the iron used for the ring that holds the strings represents magic.

It looks like a harp, but the way it's played is similar to that of a Flamenco guitar. It is made with the shell of half a pumpkin and is partially covered with leather. Traditionally it has 21 strings, lined up in two rows, one for each hand. To play a scale, you pluck one string from each side alternating them, since the consecutive notes are placed in different rows. There are two posts, one on each side where the hands rest. Fishing line is used for the strings to obtain a brilliant tone. The 21 strings are tied to an iron hoop that goes around the bottom post. The different tones are achieved by moving the leather hoops around the post, to which the strings are tied, giving different tensions to each of them.

The Music
Nowadays African music has many influences, from Cuban to Arabic going through Jazz and Pop. This fantastic fusion has given birth to numerous styles which have made us aware of the quantity of artists to be found in Africa. However, the main influence still comes from the descendants of Africans, or from those Africans who left their homeland and travelled around the world. They introduced African music to those places where they settled, a rich mix evolving as a result. The influence of Caribbean music together with the latin-african fusion, jazz, soul, blues and rock, reveals to us the enormous capacity for creativity and adaptation of the African people.

Nino Galissa
Nino Galissa, singer and songwriter, kora performer, born in the Gabu region of Guinea-Bissau, comes from a family of Griots. The Griots fulfil the role of social chroniclers, keeping the history of the people and kings alive by word of mouth.

Since he was a small child, this prestigious performer learned how to play the kora from his father and brother. Still an adolescent, he moved to Portugal to continue his learning. In the politicised environment of Lisbon during the late seventies, Nino Galissa discovered a latent quality inside himself, that of using music as an instrument to denounce social problems.

This way of understanding music connects perfectly with the tradition of the Griots, and in it Nino Galissa sees a continuation of the tradition, an adaptation of his family's and culture's heritage to present times.

Nino Galissa, accompanied by eight musicians, sings about social problems, about the inequality between social classes, the cruelty of which human beings are capable, love and peace. He sings in Creole, Mandinga, Portuguese, English and recently also in Spanish.