[22] This article was inspired by my personal experience of the musical style under study, as an anthropologist/ethnomusicologist, music teacher, and musician. Since 1991, I have done ethnographic research as well as studied, performed, and taught music with several of the musicians sampled for the chronometric project described below (Subsection 3.2). In 1997 and 1998, in the context of my dissertation project on the urbanization of jembe playing in the city of Bamako, I was an apprentice to the late Jaraba Jakite, regularly performing the second jembe in his ensemble on the occasion of life-cycle celebrations. I also performed with other ensemble leaders, such as Yamadu Dunbia, Jeli Madi Kuyate, and Drissa Kone, albeit less frequently. In 2000, 2006, and 2008, I toured Germany (my home country) giving concerts and workshops with artists from Bamako, including Jaraba Jakite, Madu Jakite, and Drissa Kone. Today, I make my living from both academic work and freelance teaching of jembe music.