Maître Baba Koné & ses jeunes frères et son élève Cheikna Diabaté, vol. 1

Soninke music (musique soninké) is the traditional and contemporary musical practice of the Soninke (Sarakolé/Maraka) people of the western Sahel, centered today in western Mali and the Senegal River valley (Senegal and Mauritania), with communities across The Gambia and Guinea. It is deeply rooted in the Mandé jeli (griot) hereditary arts of praise-singing, genealogy, and oral history. Core sonorities come from plucked lutes (xalam/hoddu), balafon (wooden xylophone), calabash and frame/percussion drums, and metal scrapers (karinyan), with call‑and‑response vocals that ride cyclical, polyrhythmic grooves. Melodic language typically favors Sahelian pentatonic/hexatonic modes and steady ostinati, supporting poetic praise, epic narration, and social dance. While primarily an acoustic, community-centered tradition, modern Soninke musicians also incorporate kora, electric guitar/bass, and drum kit, carrying the aesthetic into diaspora contexts and popular Mandé/Sahelian genres.