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: Yaya Diallo
Tag: Malian music
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…
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…