Artist Profiles: Guto Pires
Guto Pires is a guitarist, singer and composer from Guinea-Bissau. He moved to Portugal in the late 1970s. Guto played in many bands such as…
Artist Profiles: Nino Galissa
Bubacar Galissa Kouyaté, better known as Nino Galissa, is a songwriter and kora player born in Gabu (Guinea Bissau) where he grew up steeped in…
Artist Profiles: Bidinte
Jorge Da Silva Bidinte – a multi-faceted musician: composer, vocalist, guitar player, percussionist – represented one of the most genuine voices coming from the mingling…
Artist Profiles: Keba Bobo Cissoko
Keba Bobo Cissoko was born and raised in a jali village in Guinea Bissau. He lived the traditional “Jali” life until he moved to Guinea-Conakry…
Koum Tara’s Sound Recipe Spanning Millennia
Koum Tara – Chaâbi, Jazz and Strings (Odradek Records ODRCD700, 2018) Jazz legend tells us that while the U. S. 369th Infantry Regiment (AKA Harlem…
Harmonious Debate
Chapter 1 Millenia before the invention of the screw, he screwed his perceptions down, tightening and focusing all the sensory pressure he could bring to…
Artist Profiles: Wofa
Wofa means ‘come together’ in the Soso dialect of Guinea. It also represents the combined energy of some of the finest young performers of West…
Artist Profiles: Mamady Keita
Born in 1950, master drummer Mamady Keita came from eastern Guinea, once a part of the vast Manding Empire. In pre-colonial times it also included…
Artist Profiles: Kadé Diawara
Kadé Diawara is highly celebrated throughout Guinea as one of the single most significant jeli women in the country. On October 2, 1958 – the…
Artist Profiles: Famoudou Konaté
Famoudou Konaté is an exceptional virtuoso on the jembe. Famoudou Konaté was born in 1940 in Sangbarala, in the Hamana region of Guinea – the…