Toumani Diabate was one of the most brilliant players of the kora (a 21-string harp-lute from West Africa). He was born in 1965 in Bamako…
Malian Kora Maestro Toumani Diabate
Category: Artist Profiles
Artist Profiles: Mamadou Sidibe
Mamadou Sidibe was the first person to change the traditional Malian instrument the doso ngoni, to the now popular kamele ngoni. He changed the number…
Artist Profiles: Mamadou Diabate (kora)
Mamadou Diabaté was born in 1975 in Kita, a Malian city long known as a center for the arts and culture of the Manding people…
Artist Profiles: Madou Sidiki Diabate
Madou Sidiki Diabate presents a night of traditional West African music that dates back centuries. While relatives – his famous older brother Toumani Diabate and…
Artist Profiles: Fode Lassana Diabaté
Fode Lassana Diabaté was born in Conakry, Guinea, in 1971 into a family of virtuoso bala (balaphone) players, Lassana Diabaté has been playing the bala…
Artist Profiles: Khaira Arby
Khaira Arby, also known as the Nightingale of the North, was born in the village of Abaradjou in the Sahara Desert north of Timbuktu (Mali).…
Artist Profiles: Balla Kouyate
Nicknamed Balafon Mania, Balla Kouyaté is considered to be among the greatest bala (balaphone or balafon) players in the world today. A virtuoso, he plays…
Artist Profiles: Sabrang
Sabrang is a Scandinavian band that combines jazz and Indian ragas. Sabrang is the Sanskrit word for rainbow. The trio includes Sudeshna Bhattacharya, Graig Earle…
Artist Profiles: Adama Tounkara
Adama Tounkara is Jelimady Tounkara’s nephew, the ‘guitar hero’ of Malian music, respected conductor of Mali’s Super Rail Band. Adama is one of those many…
Artist Profiles: Ze Manel
Singer and multi-instrumentalist, Ze Manel is one of the most famous and influential contemporary musician to emerge from the West African country of Guinea Bissau.…