Alhaji Jobarteh with carrying cases for a kora and a balafon that he has made. Alhaji is from a jali family and is a fine singer but he prefers to make his living as a tailor. Making cases has become something of a specialism for Alhaji; he says that he finds musician customers easier to please than the women who come to him with their lengths of cloth for dressmaking. He says that they always want their dresses made immediately and that they are very difficult to please!

This photo was taken in April 2005.

Return to the INSTRUMENT MAKING article