Lyle Thanks I appreciate that you like the article and the sound clip.

I will come back with a more scientific report in a another magazine next year. The most important thing is to get rid of the general believe that it was the Griots who were the main carrier of the Afro-American music to the New World. They were according to what I have found so far, not so at all. Different folk lute instruments and the folk tradition in different ethnic groups had a much more important impact on the common music life in the New World than the very few bards, Griots, that by accident could have been brought over from Africa.

Another side of the coin is that some Africans in the New World took up part of the Griot traditions. Things like that is something that always happened when there is an sudden empty field old traditional power structures. The main problem for me is to get rid of this misconception that had been cemented over the last fifty years of historical music writings. Everyday of work with this topic have given me more and more proof that the banjo history written by Michael Coolen and others are not based on correct facts. Sam Charters has been my guest in my hose this fall and admits that he perhaps took a hasten wrong standpoint in his book Roots of the Blues about the Griot music as the forefather of the banjo music. Time will give me right in this matter

I have been accused that the Jola Akonting music we have found has been influenced by modern Western music. But the same people then accept the Griot music as genuine African folk music and roots of the Banjo music when we now that the Griots took up Western influenced music as early as in the 1920s i.e. when they made the six string guitar a Griot instrument. Most musicologist both on the white and black side don«t care, but they should, as this concerns all contemporary music of the last 150 years in the western world.

Akontings supplied by me can now be seen in all temporary banjo exhibitions in Kentucky, Katonah N.Y, Stone brook of Long Island and in MIM, Brussels.

J is pronounced as Y like in the name Yeager or Japan both in Sweden and West Africa ( by all languages). Lofgren spelled with umlaut, two dots, for the O is a rather common name in Sweden.

Ulf