Dan Maraya Jos

Dan Maraya Jos, whose name means "The Orphan of Jos", was a Nigerian Hausa griot and musician known for playing the kontigi, a small single-stringed lute. He was also remembered as a man who did not limit his praise singing to the rich and famous, but sang praises for common people as well. He was a Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) and a recipient of the Nigerian Federal Republic Medal, 1st class. A recording artist, by 1986 he had recorded at least 150 LPs and singles and composed 500 songs. Dan Maraya Jos was born in 1946 in Bukuru, near Jos in Plateau State, Nigeria. His birth name was Adamu Wayya, but his father died shortly after his birth and his mother died while he was still an infant, hence the name by which everyone knows him. Dan Maraya's father had been a court musician for the Sarkin Hausawa of Bukuru. After the father's death, the Emir (or Sarkin Hausawa) took Dan Maraya under his care. Dan Maraya showed an early interest in music and came under the influence of local professional musicians. During a trip to Maiduguri while he was still a pre-teen, he was impressed by musicians playing the kuntigi instrument. Upon his return to Jos, he made a kuntigi, with which he has accompanied himself ever since. Dan Maraya was a vocalist, singing while accompanying himself on the kuntigi. He also was skilled with the Kotsu drum and Kalungu drum (Hausa talking drum), the garaya 2-stringed lute or guitar, the molo 3-stringed lute or guitar, and the goge Nigerian violin, having learned them in training for his profession as a griot. The body of his instrument was made from an oval-shaped sardine can covered with goatskin. Dan Maraya and other kuntigi players are solo performers who accompany themselves with a rapid ostinato on the kuntigi. During instrumental interludes they repeat a fixed pattern for the song they are playing, but while singing, they will often change the notes of the pattern to parallel the melody they are singing. Dan Maraya chose the griot profession when he was seven-years old, having been told that his deceased father was a royal drummer. By the end of his life he had toured internationally, performing in the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Cuba, Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Venezuela, Brazil, and Ethiopia. He died on 20 June 2015 in Jos after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was buried in Bukuru, his hometown. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Hausa musicians of all time and a cultural icon in Nigeria.