Batourou Sékou Kouyaté
https://amf.didiermary.fr/ancient-strings-batourou-sekou-kouyate/
Batourou Sékou Kouyaté (aka Batrou Sékou Kouyaté / ? – 1984) is probably the first tradi-modern Korafola, born in a family of djelis (griots) in Mali.
"Sekou Batourou Kouyate, one the most loved, and best known kora players to originate from Mali. Known more as a korafola (he who is […]
Self-Titled Summer | Djeli Moussa Diawara (1983, Guinea)
Our next Self-Titled Summer spotlight is on number 387 on The List, submitted by platenworm. This is the gorgeous debut album (also found under the title Yasimika) by the Mandinka griot and kora player, considered a classic West African album by those who know it.
Want to read more? See the full spotlight on the Fediverse at @1001otheralbums.com or on the blog: https://1001otheralbums.com/2025/07/31/self-titled-summer-djeli-moussa-diawara-1983-guinea/
Want to skip straight to the music? Here's the Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/djeli-moussa-diawara (scroll to the bottom to see the 4 tracks from this album)
Happy listening!
#DjeliMoussaDiawara #JaliMusaJawara #griot #kora #balafon #Guinea #Mandinka #Mandingo #AfricanMusic #WestAfricanMusic #1980s #selftitled #music #1001OtherAlbums
Djeli Moussa Diawara – Haidara (remastered)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/djeli-moussa-diawara-haidara-remastered/
Here’s the full 2010 remastered version of Haidara, the Guinean korafola Djeli Moussa Diawara recorded in Abidjan in 1982 for his 1st album.
Read the stories about the album on Wikipedia. […]
Ballaké Sissoko - Nan Sira Madi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_J4VUFahKs
A Colors show in 2021.
Kanazoé Orkestra – Folikadi
https://amf.didiermary.fr/kanazoe-orkestra-folikadi/
Seydou Diabate dit “Kanazoé”, né au Burkina Faso dans une célèbre famille de griots est un multi-instrumentiste.
Il joue les balafons pentatoniques dioula, sambla et toussian, le balafon diatonique (djelibalan ou balafon guinéen) ainsi que le kamele n’goni, une harpe pentatonique.
Lalo Keba Dramé – Bamba Bojang
https://amf.didiermary.fr/lalo-keba-drame-bamba-bojang/
An old griot song by Lalo Keba Dramé (Lalo Kebba Drammeh), the Kora virtuoso from SeneGambia.
This song was composed in honour of Alhaji Bamba Bodian or Ledjè, a wealthy merchant of the XIX century, king of Suma Kunda (Gambia) who was also a generous patron (“djatigui”) to the griots of Gambia. Many Gambians consider […]
Soriba Kouyate – Kanakassi (1999)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/soriba-kouyate-kanakassi-1999/
Soriba Kouyate was a Senegalese Kora virtuoso (Korafola). Just before his death in 2010, he played in the Kora Jazz Band, after Djeli Moussa Diawara left the Kora Jazz Trio.
He played with musicians like Youssou N’Dour, Salif Keita, Peter Gabriel, Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Belafonte, Toure Kunda, etc.
Les Ballets Africains
https://amf.didiermary.fr/les-ballets-africains/
Old footage of Les Ballets Africains, the national dance company of Guinea.
Founded in Paris in 1952 by Keita Fodeba, it’s composed of dancers and acrobats (athletes!) with a full accompanying traditional band (balafon, percussions, Kora…) and plenty of djembefolas.
They’re still active, although less & less outside Guinea…
The video shows them performing for the […]
Mah Damba – Jarabi
https://amf.didiermary.fr/mah-damba-jarabi-diva-mali/
“Jarabi”, sung by Mah Damba with Korafola Djeli Moussa Diawara, appears on the compilation “Divas from Mali,” released in 1997.
Just close your eyes…
Listen to the Diva and the Griot…
Les Go de Kotéba – Bara
https://amf.didiermary.fr/go-de-koteba-bara/
Les Go de Kotéba est un groupe de 3, puis 2 chanteuses et danseuses créé en 1993 à Abidjan. L’album contenant ce titre est sorti en 1997.
Le nom du groupe vient de Go — déformation de “girl” en nouchi — et de l’ensemble Kotéba d’Abidjan, une troupe de théâtre traditionnel mandingue fondée en 1974 par Souleymane […]
Connecting 4 continents through music…
https://amf.didiermary.fr/djeli-moussa-diawara-salsa-cora/
One song, 4 continents connected…
A few years ago, I had an interesting exchange on ex-Twitter, after a radio DJ in Auckland, New Zealand, opened his show with a nice “old” song, associating it with the wrong artist…
A radio DJ in NYC who was listening to the replay was also wondering who could “really” […]
MvetKora – Sally Nyolo & Djeli Moussa Diawara
https://amf.didiermary.fr/mvetkora-sally-nyolo-djeli-moussa-diawara/
The album “Mvetkora” (2016) is an unexpected encounter between two traditional African instruments: the mvet played by the Cameroonian singer Sally Nyolo (ex-Zap Mama), and the electric kora plucked by the Guinean korafola Djeli Moussa Diawara.
Alhaji Bai Konte (Documentary)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/alhaji-bai-konte-documentary/
The film, Alhaji Bai Konte (1978), depicts a day-in-the-life of the now-deceased Gambian Mandinka kora virtuoso, Alhaji Bai Konte, shot on location in Brikama, Gambia (plus one scene in Dakar, Senegal), West Africa.
Alhaji Bai Konte’s son, Dembo Konte, accompanies in the performance, and various family members and friends make cameo appearances. [...]
Djeli Moussa Diawara – Yékéké (Paris 2010)
https://amf.didiermary.fr/djeli-moussa-diawara-yekeke-paris-2010/
Following the remastered version of “Yasimika (Abidjan 1982)”, “Yékéké (Paris 2010)” contains 9 tracks, recorded a few years before the release of this album, but never officially published.
It also contains new recordings of his 4 original songs from 1982, reworked in a studio in Paris with Guinean musicians. […]
Djeli Moussa Diawara – Ayo
https://amf.didiermary.fr/djeli-moussa-diawara-ayo/
“Ayo” is a single released by Djeli Moussa Diawara in 1991, from his album “Cimadan” (1992), that is also available on the “Tales Of The Kora” compilation (2003).
Kora Jazz Trio – Folly
https://amf.didiermary.fr/kora-jazz-trio-folly-mezzo/
Kora Jazz Trio was a three piece African musical group, founded in 2002 by Djeli Moussa Diawara, Guinean Korafola, with Abdoulaye Diabate (piano) and Moussa Sissokho (percussion), best known for producing a music that is a mix of American jazz with traditional African music. They released 3 studio albums Part I (2003) Part II (2005) […]
Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate - Kala Djula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PKdK_68r0A
From "Ali & Toumani" in 2010.
More on AMF: https://amf.didiermary.fr/ali-toumani-farka-toure-diabate/
Dawda Jobarteh & Toumani Diabaté – Tabara
https://amf.didiermary.fr/dawda-jobarteh-toumani-diabate-tabara/
This is pure traditional Kora playing by Dawda Jobarteh & Toumani Diabaté.
The kora is a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa. A kora typically has 21 strings, which are played by plucking with the fingers. It combines features of the lute and harp.
In the late 20th century, a 24/5-string model of the kora […]
Jaliya Silokang - The Path of a Griot
by Suntou Susso
https://suntoususso.bandcamp.com/album/jaliya-silokang-the-path-of-a-griot-2
Nainy Diabate & Le Kaladjula Band live
https://amf.didiermary.fr/nainy-diabate-kaladjula-band-live/
In Mali, the griot Naïny Diabaté is a star. A singer since early childhood, she achieved success in the early 1980s. A tireless advocate for equality, she has placed women’s rights at the heart of Malian music, traditionally a very masculine genre. With this in mind, in 2013 she launched a project aimed at challenging […]
Osei Korankye – Seperewa Highlife
https://amf.didiermary.fr/osei-korankye-seperewa-highlife/
The seperewa, also known as seprewa or sanku, is a Ghanaian (specifically Akan) harp-lute and belongs to a class of harp-lute chordophones typical in West Africa. They are recognisable by their square wooden box resonator, which differ from the calabash ones used for Manding harp-lutes like the kora or kamele n’goni. […]
Toumani and Sidiki Diabate
https://amf.didiermary.fr/toumani-sidiki-diabate/
Toumani and Sidiki Diabate, father & son, collaborated on an album of duets.
Described as “the finest Toumani collaboration since his classic work with Ali Farka Touré” (The Guardian) ‘Toumani & Sidiki’ is a dialogue conducted through the Kora.
Father-and-son collaborations are rare enough but the ties binding Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté are particularly profound […]
Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra
https://amf.didiermary.fr/symmetric-orchestra-toumani-diabate/
Toumani Diabaté‘s Symmetric Orchestra released “Boulevard de l’Indépendance” in 2006.
Nick Gold and the World Circuit team started recording a three-part series called “The Hotel Mandé Sessions,” at Bamako, Mali’s Hotel Mandé. In July 2006, after “In the Heart of the Moon” and “Savane,” the debut [...]
#AfroCuban #BurkinaFaso #CôteDIvoire #Documentary #Guinea #Kora #Mali #Ngoni #Sénégal
Kamele N’goni…
https://amf.didiermary.fr/kamele-ngoni/
J’assiste depuis un certain temps à l’éclosion “soudaine” dans le monde musical, d’un instrument hautement traditionnel, voire mystique, le Kamele N’goni (ou Kamale Ngoni).
Voici des artistes que j’ai pu découvrir en ligne au fil du temps. […]
