This little young lady was standing around with her mum and friends in Bakau. The grown-ups were singing and dancing while they  waited for His Excellency the President to come by. The little young lady was such a groovy dancer that she caught the President’s eye - and got the prize!

A rising Swedes music sensation, Anna-Malin Andersdotter alias Salona, has concluded a weeklong visit to The Gambia during which she met some Gambian artistes to discuss ways of forging and cementing constructive and fruitful working bond.

Speaking to Entertainment shortly before her departure, Salona described her trip to the Smiling Coast of Africa as a thundering success, in that, it offered her the ‘unique’ opportunity to meet and associate with like-minded people to chart a way forward for long-term poverty-reducing projects in the impoverished tiny West African state. She said the visit also gave her the chance to discover Gambia, which was hitherto uncovered to her.

“Gambian people are hospitable people and are unique in their civility to guests. My stay in The Gambia offered me a romantic and an exhilarating experience, hence my resolution to return to the country in the near future to not only stage musical concerts but to also embark on projects. I want to be part of Gambia’s diverse but homogenous cultures as Africa is my homeland,” posited Salona.

She promised that she would strive with might and main to contribute to the promotion of the country’s budding music sector.

The promising Reggae star added: “One of the reasons for my visit to The Gambia is to infuse traditional music in modern Reggae and Hip-Hop among other strands of music. As a singer cum dancer with experience, I would use my ability to work towards the attainment of world peace, justice and development. I have plans to work with organizations to help me in actualizing my dreams of coming up with projects in Gambia.”

The Jobarteh family is a household name in the country as far as music is concerned, and it is believed that all members of the Jobarteh family in The Gambia have music running in their blood.

Siro Jobarteh, one of the siblings of the music legend and koraist King Kora is the latest entrant in the world of kora music.

Born in the 1980s in Bundung, Siro was brought up in a family that has deep root in music thus she saw herself singing at the tender age of 15 years.

However, her musical prowess and acumen could  not  have been harnessed after all, had it not been  for  the kind support and tutelage of one Muhammed Sumareh.

Profoundly satisfied with Siro’s singing aptitude, Mr Sumareh with his silver-coated tongue coaxed and cajoled Siro to take up music as a career.

Interestingly, within a short space of few months, Siro stroke gold in the trade by coming up with two promotional tracks, which are now enjoying prime airplay on local FM stations.

 The first track entitled Saayamanyin  is a tribute song in honour of her father Amadou Jobarteh and other Gambian music icons such as Jali Yankuba Saho, Banna Kanuteh and Pap Touray while the second track Jamfaamange  deals with the predicaments that the African continent is facing, such as war, unemployment and PHD- pull him/her down syndrome.

Justifying her joining the music arena, the shy-looking Siro elucidated “I am toeing the family line because music is part and parcel of our family heritage.  I play strictly Afro Manding and in my music I always want to be original, singing traditional songs and songs of real value to our society,” 

Mr. Pa Modou Bojang, General Manager of Yiriwa Development Radio Station in Brikama Town, Western Region, has lately returned from the UK where he attended the World of Music Arts and Dance Festival (WOMAD) held at the new site of the Founder Peter Gabriel in Charton Park few miles away from London from 27th to 29th July 2007.

The festival, which brought together over two million people including 40, 000 artistes across the globe, was geared towards bringing about cultural exchange through music, arts and dance. This year’s festival marked the difference as over million people were reportedly seen singing, dancing and drumming in the muddy sands of the newly -built Charton Park.

Speaking to Travel Talk, Mr. Bojang described his trip to the UK as a resounding success.  He said attending the WOMAD festival has given him the opportunity to meet and mingle with the movers and shakers of the UK society.  According to him, during his stay in the UK, he was invited to attend the Tribe of Doris Festival that took place at the Wellington Park in southwest England from 22nd to 28th August. “The Tribe of Doris is the intercultural summer school that began 17 years ago and that this year’s event attracted over 40,000 people including artists from all over the world.

“African artists were given prominence as African cultures were given more attention more than any other cultures. Many artists from the African continent including The Gambia, Senegal Zimbabwe, Nigeria and just to name a few performed at the festival,” he said.

The Yiriwa FM boss also revealed that while in the UK he attended a two-day workshop on globalization and cultural exchange at Bristol organized by Sul’art, a community-based organization that promotes cultures through providing entertainment to schools and prisons adding that forum was expertly coordinated by the Gambian sabarr teacher Modou Joof.

He further stated: “This trip has really accorded me ample opportunity to get access to partners in development for the future possible investment in this country.

“I was able to meet the BBC Bureau of International Development and Partnership where agreements were made on staff training and programme rebroadcasting. With this agreement there is a strong hope that every year one or two Yiriwa FM staff could benefit from the training package.
“I also met the Black Radio Organization in Bristol with whom so many things were discussed for the expansion o f Yiriwa Development Radio in Brikama.
“I was The Gambia goodwill ambassador to WOMAD and all these events because this is the first time that the Gambian media is being invited to these festivals.
I was able to present a paper on future investment in The Gambia at a forum organized by Gambians residing in the UK and their friends that took place in Liver Pool.

“At the investment forum I informed the gathering that The Gambia has lots of positive investment opportunities as well as an enabling investment climate and I have no doubt that if given chance not only Gambians residing in UK but many other business tycoons around the globe would invest in the country since The Gambia ranks among the most peaceful countries in the world.
“Also I attended the Northinghill carnival in London that brought together over one million people drawn over diverse societies in the UK.

“So I’m very thankful to the proprietor of Yiriwa FM Alhaji Basiru Darboe for paving the way for Yirwa’s participation and the organizers of WOMAD for inviting me to cover this year’s event. Equally I’m also very thankful to government of Gambia for the creation of a level playing field for us in the electronic media.
“My future plans include the setting up of a private television station in The Gambia that would be attached to Yiriwa Development Radio. This TV station would focus on airing programmes on environment, health, agriculture and education”.