Artist Profiles: Desert Blues Band Tinariwen
Tinariwen (originally Taghreft Tinariwen, or “edification of the lands”) became known for vocalizing the political plight of endangered nomads. Their music spoke to the Tuareg…
Artist Profiles: Vieux Farka Toure
Growing up, Vieux Farka Touré played calabash (a unique-sounding dried gourd drum used in Mali) and other percussion, but his father, famed guitarist Ali Farka…
Artist Profiles: Yacouba Sissoko
Yacouba Sissoko is a master kora player from the jeli tradition. He was born in Kita, Mali. His grandfather, Samakoun Tounkara, began teaching Yacouba when…
Artist Profiles: Yaya Diallo
Yaya Diallo is a traditional musician from Mali, West Africa. He is also a music and dance instructor, author, and workshop leader. His 1980 album…
Artist Profiles: Oumou Sangare
Oumou Sangare was born in Bamako in 1968, to parents who migrated to Mali’s capital city from the region south of the Niger River known…
Artist Profiles: Nahawa Doumbia
Nahawa Doumbia is one of the most popular singers from the Wassulu region in South Mali. She speaks to the younger generation of West Africa…
Artist Profiles: Madina N’Diaye
Led by her love for Manding tunes, Madina N’Diaye was the only Malian woman on stage accompanied by a kora, one of the most emblematic…
Artist Profiles: Issa Bagayogo
Issa Bagayogo was known as “Techno Issa” in his homeland of Mali. He topped the charts in 2002 with Timbuktu, an album that spawned a…
Artist Profiles: Habib Koité
Habib Koité comes from a great line of Malian Khassonké jalis. He studied music for four years at the National Institute of Arts (NIA) in…
Artist Profiles: Ballake Sissoko
The sound of Ballake Sissoko’s 21-string kora identifies him, along with Toumani Diabate, as one of the best kora players of a new generation of…