Bassekou Kouyaté (born 1966) is a musician from

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

. His band is known as Ngoni ba. He was born into the

Kouyate family The Kouyate family is a dynasty of griots that is native to West Africa. It has been prominent since the 13th century, when its founder took part in the founding of the Mali Empire. History According to the Epic of Sundiata, Balla Fasséké was ...

in Garana,

Barouéli Cercle Barouéli Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Ségou Region of Mali. The administrative center (''chef-lieu'') is the town of Barouéli. The Cercle is divided into 11 communes:. Names of communes are in upper-case without accents. * ...

, 60 kilometres from

Ségou Ségou (; bm, ߛߋߓߎ, italic=no, ) is a town and an urban commune in south-central Mali that lies northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the River Niger. The town is the capital of the Ségou Cercle and the Ségou Region. With 130,690 ...

, in 1966.Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique
Bassekou Kouyate
/ref> At the age of 12, he started playing the ngoni. In the late 1980s he moved to the capital,

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...

.Fly Global Music, March 10, 2007
Bassekou Kouyaté – Blue Like a River to a Desert
/ref> Kouyaté's debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''Segu Blue'', was released internationally in 2007 by Outhere Records and distributed in the U.K. by

Proper Music Distribution Stemming from a business started in 1988, Proper Music Distribution has grown to become the largest totally independent distributor in the UK, with annual sales of over £25million. It is a wholly owned subsidiary company of Proper Music Group L ...

. The album was produced by Lucy Durán. He has also appeared on a number of albums by

Toumani Diabaté Toumani Diabaté ( ; born 10 August 1965) is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles. ...

and has performed in several European countries. In 2010, Kouyaté toured with

Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, bringing the instrument from its bluegrass roots to jazz, classi ...

. Kouyaté's wife, Amy Sacko, is also a successful solo artist and sings lead in his band. His father, Mustapha Kouyaté, was a ngoni player and his mother Yagaré Damba was a praise singer. Kouyate, together with Amy Sacko and Ngoni ba, appeared at The 2013 Proms.

Discography

;Albums * Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba: ''Segu Blue'' (Outhere Records, 2007) * Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba: ''I Speak Fula'' (Outhere Records, 2009) * Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba: '' Jama Ko'' (Outhere Records, 2013) * Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba: '' Ba Power'' (Glitterbeat Records, 2015) * Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba: ''Miri'' (Outhere Records, 2019) ;Contributing artist * ''

The Rough Guide To Desert Blues ''The Rough Guide To Desert Blues'' is a world music compilation album originally released in 2010. Desert blues refers to the music of the Mandinka and related nomad groups of the Sahara, who perform a style of music considered the root of the ...

'' (

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" competit ...

, 2010)

Filmography

* 2008: ''Throw Down Your Heart'', by Sascha Paladino: Himself * 2013: ''The Africa Express'', by Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye: Himself * 2016: ''Easy Man'', by Jasper Cremers and

Dennis de Groot Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is sometime ...

: Himself * 2016: ''Mali Blues'', by Lutz Gregor: Himself

Awards

*2008 –

BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music The BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music was an award given to world music artists between 2002 and 2008, sponsored by BBC Radio 3. The award was thought up by ''fRoots'' magazine's editor Ian Anderson, inspired by the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Un ...

– Album of the Year & African Artist of the YearBBC3 Awards for World Music winners 2008
/ref>

References

External links

*
Outhere RecordsBassekou Kouyaté
on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kouyate, Bassekou 1966 births Living people Malian musicians Ngoni players People from Ségou Region 21st-century Malian people