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…
View More Artist Profiles: Vieux Farka ToureTag: Mali
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…
View More Artist Profiles: Yacouba SissokoArtist 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…
View More Artist Profiles: Yaya DialloArtist 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…
View More Artist Profiles: Oumou SangareArtist 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…
View More Artist Profiles: Nahawa DoumbiaArtist 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…
View More Artist Profiles: Madina N’DiayeArtist 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…
View More Artist Profiles: Issa BagayogoArtist 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…
View More Artist Profiles: Habib KoitéArtist 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…
View More Artist Profiles: Ballake SissokoArtist 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…
View More Artist Profiles: Boubacar Traoré