"My father was born with this instrument," Laemouahuma Daniel Jatta says. "This is part of our history." Jatta, 55, is from Gambia, a member of the Jola people. He's holding an akonting: a ...

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, ...

Daniel Lamou Jatta is a Jola scholar and musician from Mandinary village, Kombo North, West Coast Region who pioneered the research and documentation of the Akonting, a Jola folk lute as well as the ...

In "Texas Hold 'Em," the singer is accompanied by a banjo. It's often thought of as a quintessential Americana instrument. But the history of the... Pop superstar Beyoncé released "Texas Hold 'Em" a ...