Bassekou Kouyate
Bassekou Kouyaté (born in 1966 in Garana) is a musician from Mali. His band is known as Ngoni ba.
He was born in Garana, Barouéli Cercle, 60 kilometres from Ségou in 1966.[1] At the age of 12, he started playing the Ngoni. In the late 1980s he moved to the capital Bamako.[2]
Kouyaté's debut album Segu Blue[3] was released internationally in 2007 by Out Here Records and distributed in the U.K. by Proper Music Distribution. The album was produced by Lucy Durán.[2] He has also appeared on a number of albums by Toumani Diabaté [2] and has performed in several European countries.[2] In 2010, Kouyaté has been on tour with Béla Fleck.
Kouyaté's wife, Amy Sacko, is also a successful solo artist and sings lead in his band.[2][4] His father Mustapha Kouyaté was a ngoni player and his mother Yagaré Damba was a praise singer.[1]
Kouyate, together with wife Sacko and Ngoni Ba, appeared at The 2013 Proms.[5]
Discography
- Albums
- Bassekou Kouyaté & 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)
- Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba: Ba Power (Glitterbeat Records, 2015)
- Contributing artist
Awards
- 2008 – BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music – Album of the Year & African Artist of the Year[6]
References
- 1 2 Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: Bassekou Kouyate
- 1 2 3 4 5 Fly Global Music, March 10, 2007: Bassekou Kouyaté – Blue Like a River to a Desert
- ↑ Dacks, David (March 2010). "Ngoni Hero Bassekou Kouyaté". Exclaim!.
- ↑ Allmusic.com entry on Amy Sacko
- ↑ "Prom 54: World Routes Prom". bbc.co.uk. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
- ↑ BBC3 Awards for World Music winners 2008
- More from Mali: Review. African Business, January 2008.
- mali-music.com: Bassekou Kouyaté. The prince of the strings. 15 January 2004.