Finishing my second kora; Evenings with Malamini Jobarteh

Hello,
This afternoon, and for mostly the entire day in fact, Moriba showed me how to put the finishing touches into my second kora (yes, I will be bringing both of them back home!) This includes attaching the strings individually to each conso on the neck, and to the rebar ring that is bored into the bottom after being heated by fire for a little while. If you're confused on some of the terms I'm using, feel free to read back a few posts sometime in February...I give a fairly detailed explanation about the kora itself. As each string is attached to it's conso, it is then pushed up, enabling the string to stretch out a little bit. After all of the strings are attached, you loosen all the strings by pushing the conso back down the neck, after which you remove the ring at the bottom, and insert the neck through the holes at the top and bottom of the finished calabash. Once it is through, the bridge is then placed perpendicular to the hide, which is stretched over the open end of the calabash, on a small piece of wood, cut out in the shape of a rectangle, or in some cases, a circle. A small piece of cloth is sewn over this wood piece. The bridge has a groove cut out for each individual string. Eleven on each side. Once the strings are in, you can start the kotoboro process, after they have stretched out for a while. The strings fall out of tune a lot during the first few tunings. My first kora was built not too long before I arrived, and it probably needed three tunings a day for the first month!
This process took me most of the day. Moriba sat alongside my every move, giving me advice, correcting me. He was very patient, and most of all, happy that I am taking the time to learn how to build koras! He could do what I did today probably in an hour at most, but he was very friendly and helpful as I struggled along. I had him take some photos of me in action which I will try to make available soon after I return.
The other thing that I feel is quite worthy of mention are my recent evenings spent with Malamini- last night in particular. Yesterday was the first of what will probably be a few sittings where we will cover songs that I have learned previously...back in the states with Kane, and with Moriba earlier in my trip. What was interesting was how the first piece we played progressed. I told him that I'd like to start slow in order to fit in some of the solos, or variations from the basic part (kumbeng) that I had already worked out. He acknowledged, this, and we started playing...slowly. I pretty much just stuck to the kumbeng, and watched as a went in and out of various solo lines. He claims that he hasn't picked up a kora in seven years, but he can still play fluently. I can sense that his hands are warming up with each evening gathering. I could sense it in particular with the first piece we played last night called kuruntu kelefa. This is the first piece I learned from Kane when I started playing kora less than two years ago. Malamini provides a very sweet, soulful sound with his playing. The way he plucks the strings, how he holds the instrument...when he started singing while we were playing kuruntu kelefa...wow! I got the chills.....It was just one of the those moments where the flow just captured you and took you into another land. The pace increased gradually, and he was soon completely off the kumbeng (I held it down!) and started working out, and remembering different solo lines. I had my tape player going throughout the whole evening (with his invitation). The sound is pretty scratchy, but I think it will go well as background music to the slideshow that I will make when I get back. Sitting with Malamini during the evenings have definitely been a highlight for me here in Gambia. Some interesting things about Malamini...he is around 70 years in age...a griot...one of Brikama's "mediators". As a mediator, he goes to compounds around the area to help families work out disputes during the daytime, and sometimes during the evening. He has four wives. I think that this is the maximum number of wives that one man is allowed to have, but Moriba has claimed that one can have up to ten, but everyone else I have spoken with says four. One young man from the compound across the street explained the custom pretty thoroughly to me....basically saying that a man can have up to four wives, given that he proves that he can provide for each of them equally. Aside from Malamini, I don't know anyone personally that has more than two. Another interesting, or humerous fact about Malamini, is that he spits like a camel! It's great! We'll be sitting on the porch, undercover during evenings, and he'll start sucking with some amount of volume, after which he'll stand up and spit out over the rail. I have a hard time fighting back the giggles whenever this happens. I've never quite seen anyone spit like him before!
I should probably go for now. Thanks to all of you who have been greeting me back home via email. It is wonderful to hear from folks back home!

Abaraca Bake! (Thank you very much)