This is an updated version of a story first published on Nov. 13, 2022. Described as a cross between a harp, a lute, and a guitar, the kora is part of a musical tradition that dates back to the ...

For the people who say they have no rhythm, BaBa Eli Hoenai of Chicago would tell them that they’re missing a key organ–their heart. In celebration of Black History Month, he presented two workshops ...

There were no Western instruments onstage when the Malian griot Bassekou Kouyate and his band, Ngoni Ba, performed at SummerStage in Central Park on Sunday afternoon. Ngoni Ba is a string band four ...

The mbira, or “thumb piano,” a traditional African instrument, is declining in popularity in big cities, a musician and seller of traditional musical instruments from Cape Town, South Africa told ...

The West African instrument dùndún is also known as “talking drum” because players can match the pitch and rhythm of speech patterns on it. A new study reveals just how closely dùndún players match ...

HAMBURG, Germany — “Ok, stop the cameras,” the head conservator commanded from the belly of the storage department. “I want to hear what these instruments sound like without Satch wearing the gloves.” ...

Outrage poured in from around the world when news broke that a musician’s priceless instrument was destroyed by Transportation Security Administration officials in the United States. Ballaké Sissoko ...

Salif Keita is known today as the "golden voice" of Africa, but in his youth he was an outcast, unaccepted by his community because he was born with albinism. Turning to music as an outlet, Keita rose ...

Pop superstar Beyoncé released "Texas Hold 'Em" a few weeks ago and it features an instrument that she had never emphasized before. This hit song, on her new (and hugely popular) Cowboy Carter album, ...