Bassekou Kouyate

Bassekou Kouyaté (born 1966 in Garana ) is a Malian musician. He is head of the group Ngoni Ba and became known as a virtuoso ngoni player and modernizer of music of the West African griots.

Life and work

Bassekou Kouyaté was in Garana, about 60 km from Ségou born in one of the greatest griot clan of Africa, the next Bassekou Kouyaté belong to many other internationally successful artists such as Kandia Kouyaté and Habib Koité. At the age of 12 years Bassekou Kouyaté began to learn from his father Mustapha Kouyaté the Ngonispiel that in his family had a long tradition. End of the eighties he moved to the Malian capital, Bamako, where he met with the kora player Toumani Diabaté, with whom he often collaborated in the sequence. He also made ​​appearances on records by Ali Farka Touré and Taj Mahal, which helped him to international attention first. In Bamako, he also met his wife, the singer Ami Sacko, with whom he the group Ngoni Ba (actually Ngoni Batitle, " the big ngoni " ) founded. This group, in addition to Bassekou Kouyate and Ami Sacko still includes two percussionists and three other Ngonispieler, scored with the debut album ' Segu Blu "(2007) international successes, including the plate with the BBC World Music Award 2008 was awarded.

Bassekou Kouyaté an innovator of the traditional griot music. This refers in addition to his playing style on technical development of the instrument such as by adding additional strings ( Kouyaté uses up to seven- Ngonis ) and the use of electric amplifier. He also relies Ngoni Ba first four Ngonis different layers at the same time a (usually only one or two Ngonis be played together). Through his work with musicians like Taj Mahal it also sets a reference to their African-American Blues and calls the African roots of this music in memory.

Awards

• 2007: Tamani for the best video clip
• 2010: Best Kora Award in the category of traditional artists

Discography

• Toumani Diabaté: Songhai ( Nuevos Medios, 1989)
• Toumani Diabaté: Djelika ( Hannibal, 1995)
• Ali Farka Touré: Savane ( World Circuit, 2006)
• Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba: Segu Blue ( Out Here Records, 2007)
• Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba: I Speak Fula ( Out Here Records, 2009)
• Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba: Jama ko ( Out Here Records, 2013)