Percussionist and composer Mamadou Diabaté was born in Wagadugu, Burkina Faso in 1973. He began his musical training at the age of five with his…
Artist Profiles: Mamadou Diabaté (balafon)
Tag: balafon
Artist Profiles: El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyate
El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyate is one of the greatest balafon players in West Africa. He is the Director of the prestigious Ensemble Instrumental National…
Master Drummer Reflects on His Wide-ranging International Music Journey
Nii Okai Tagoe – West to West (Arc Music EUCD 2641, 2016) “We have to maintain dignity with each other whoever we are – from…
Fama denke: An old Malian song
“Fama Denke” is a traditional Malian song to make a note of. One of the joys of traditional Malian music is that its corpus is…
Jazzy Bala
Kakande – Dununya (Jumbie Records, 2008) Guinean musician Famoro Dioubate is one of the leading bala (also known as balafon) players in North America. Based…