References
The references database was created to facilitate comparison of book, CD, and DVD liner note references for (mostly, bala-oriented) items in the Mande repertory. As yet, to my knowledge, no such resource exists, so I hope it will be a useful tool for people who want to check multiple references to a given piece. (I myself am finding it quite interesting to compare what different sources "say" about this piece or that.)
Although I have now included many more sources than these, there were three principal sources initially:
(1) Charry, Eric. 2000. Mande Music: Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa. Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press.
Charry includes a "Title Index" (pp. 498-500) (along with a Subject Index and a Personal Name Index) covering "titles of songs, albums, books, and films." I've simply followed each reference back to the corresponding page number and compiled them here. This includes applicable entries from "Appendix C: Recordings of Traditional and Modern Pieces in Mande Repertories" (pp. 398-401.) Where appropriate, "Map 7: Some of the most important pieces Jelis play" (p. 148) is also shown.
(2) Jessup, Lynne. 1983. The Mandinka Balafon: An Introduction with Notation for Teaching. La Mesa, Calif.: Xylo.
I mine two principal sections from this source: "Chapter 4: Transcriptions with Teaching Ideas" (pp. 69-143) and "Appendix 2: Balafon Repertoire" (pp. 146-59.) I do my best to reproduce completely the (textual) information found in each of these sections.
(3) Any CD or DVD that I have in my collection with liner notes bearing relevant information.
From each of the sources cited, I do my best to extract all (but only that) information which is relevant to the specific pieces under examination. References are presented in chronological order, irrespective of the source medium. The full list of sources is compiled here in bibilographic format.
As I uncover relevant information in additional sources, I add it to the database—or at the very least, I add a bibliographic entry for the source with a "see also" note at the bottom of the relevant page. By all means, if you can help me add new references (i.e., by sharing additional CD/DVD liner note or book sources, articles, etc.), please feel free to contact me. Thank you to those who already have.