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…
Masterful Ethiopian Songs from Minyeshu
Minyeshu – Daa Dee (ARC Music EUCD2732, 2018) Music is an extended family. Its genealogy includes percussionists, string and wind instrument players, dancers, singers, choreographers,…
Artist Profiles: Boubacar Traoré
Boubacar Traoré was born in Kayes, in 1942, in the Bambara region of Mali. His nickname, Kar Kar was given to him when he was…
Artist Profiles: Cheick-Tidiane Seck
Cheick-Tidiane Seck, keyboardist, composer, and performer of popular and traditional Malian music, is one of the most prolific, experienced, and perhaps even under-appreciated musicians from…
Artist Profiles: Coumba Sidibe
Coumba Sidibe, whose first album was the highest-selling album in Africa for a female vocalist, was known the world over as the multi-titled Queen of…
Artist Profiles: Balla Tounkara
Balla Tounkara is a jeli (also known as griot by westerners) and master kora player from Mali, West Africa. He and his band, Groupe Spirit,…
Artist Profiles: Baba Sissoko
Baba Sissoko is a master of the talking drums (tamani). He is also a jali (griot) by birth. He has collaborated and recorded with Youssou…