The traditional Mande piece Keme Bourama can be dated to the late 19th century, and was originally composed on the bala, a wooden xylophone. It is traditionally used to tell the story of Almami Samory Touré, a late nineteenth-century general and war figure in Guinea. The Bambara word ‘kura’ means ‘new,’ and this version is certainly that. In Mali, the piece is played in two tunings, silaba and tomora mesengo. This version is in tomora mesengo with the 6th scale degree flattened, and is played in the style of my teacher Dialy Mady Cissoko.