The Balafon, a xylophone with 19-21 keys, is one of the oldest Mandinka musical instruments. Oral tradition dates it back to the twelfth century, before the rise to power of Sunjata, when Manding was still under the rule of Soumaoro Kanté, the great King of Sosso.   

The first griot to take up the Balafon was Balla Fasséké Kouyaté who is also acknowledged as the beginning of the Jaliya tradition and lineage as we have come to know it today. For this reason the Kouyaté family are seen as the primary family in the social hierachy and the progenitors of the tradition.                            

History of the Balafon