This grail-shaped hand drum, recognized to a lot of tribes in West Africa
because the "djembe," (jem-bay) is central towards the musical heritage from the
Malinke and Sousou tribes of Guinea in West Africa. The typical cultural and
historical roots of these tribes is usually traced for the wonderful Mali Empire
which when encompassed all of present-day Mali as well as the majority of the
coastal locations of West Africa. Its legacy continues to become preserved all
through the centuries within the praises, lamentations and narrations of the
special breed of musicians called "griot."
