(headline image: Trio Da Kali – Photo by Youri Lenquette)
Trio Da Kali is an exceptional ensemble that performs music deeply rooted in the Mandé tradition of southern Mali. It is composed of three musicians from hereditary jeli (griot) lineages. The trio was formed in 2013 under the auspices of the Aga Khan Music Programme, with guidance from British ethnomusicologist and producer Lucy Durán, a three-time Grammy nominee. From its inception, the group pledged, hence the name Da Kali, meaning “to give a pledge,” to uphold and contemporize the musical heritage of the Mandé people.
The group includes vocalist Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté, balafonist Lassana Diabaté, and ngoniba (a type of bass ngoni) player Mamadou (Madou) Kouyaté. Each member carries an impressive personal and familial legacy. Hawa, often compared to gospel icon Mahalia Jackson, is the daughter of the legendary singer Kassé Mady Diabaté, a Grammy-nominated artist hailed as one of Africa’s greatest voices. Raised in the village of Kela, a historic center of jeli culture, she absorbed the traditional repertoire from an early age and later lent her voice to high-profile events such as the India-Africa Summit in New Delhi and the 2016 remake of the miniseries Roots, where she also contributed to the musical repertoire. Her expressive, wide-ranging voice remains the emotional core of the ensemble.
Lassana Diabaté, the group’s musical director and master of the balafon, was born in Guinea into a renowned lineage of balafon players. He began studying with his father, Djelisory Diabaté, at age five and later apprenticed under El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyaté and Alkali Camara. Lassana’s exceptional technical skill and musical versatility led to collaborations with major figures in African and global music, including Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra, the cross-cultural project Afrocubism, and American bluesman Taj Mahal on the acclaimed album Kulanjan. With two chromatically tuned balafons of 22 rosewood keys each, his playing has drawn comparisons from Kronos Quartet’s David Harrington to that of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Mamadou Kouyaté, the trio’s youngest member and son of acclaimed ngoni virtuoso Bassekou Kouyaté, is one of Mali’s most innovative musicians of his generation. In addition to performing and recording with his father’s group Ngoni Ba, Mamadou maintains his own studio in Bamako. His deep-toned ngoniba (bass ngoni) playing adds harmonic richness and rhythmic depth to the trio’s sound, while his vocal harmonies lend additional color to the group’s arrangements.
The trio gained international acclaim with the release of Ladilikan (World Circuit Records, 2017), a groundbreaking collaboration with the San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet. This genre-defying project merged West African jeli instrumentation, balafon, ngoni, and voice, with Western classical string textures. Praised for its lush sonorities and emotional depth, Ladilikan earned multiple awards and was hailed by Harrington as “one of the most beautiful albums Kronos has done in forty years.”
Continuing their creative momentum, Trio Da Kali released their full-length solo album Bagola in 2025. Recorded over three days (January 13–15) at MidiLive Studios in Paris by Timothée Gumy and mixed and mastered in Madrid by Javier Monteverde, Bagola features newly composed songs rooted in tradition yet infused with spontaneity. Notably, the track “Orpaillage,” which laments environmental degradation from gold-panning, was composed impromptu in the studio.
The title track, written in a vibrant 9/8 rhythm, offers a humorous critique of male behavior in Malian society. Hawa’s vocal performance throughout is marked by clarity, nuance, and soulfulness, reflecting both her personal talent and her inheritance from her late father.
Bagola was produced by Lucy Durán, with executive production by Saúl Presa.
Discography:
Ladilikan, with Kronos Quartet (World Circuit Records, 2017)
Bagola (One World Records, 2025)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.