Djelimady Tounkara is a
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 ...
an musician and one of the foremost
guitarists in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
Life and career
Born in the culturally rich town of
Kita, west of the
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 ...
an 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 ...
, Djelimady grew up surrounded with traditional music played by members of his family,
griot
A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician.
The griot is a repos ...
s, musicians and historians by birth. Djelimady played
djembe drum and
ngoni, a banjo-like lute, as a boy. When he moved to Mali's capital, Bamako, during the 1960s, he had actually planned to work as a tailor. But music proved a stronger calling. He started playing guitar in a large, government-sponsored neighborhood band, Orchestre Misira. Voted the best guitarist in the band, Djelimady was selected to join the Orchestre National as rhythm guitarist, a great honor for the young player.
All his adult life, Djelimady has worked to transform his ancestral traditions into dance pop. But at the same time, he has continued to work in more traditional contexts, backing the great griot singers of Mali on records, in concerts and at the day-long wedding and baptism celebrations that are the modern griot's life blood. In recent years, Djelimady has performed in an acoustic trio called
Bajourou, accompanied by another masterful griot guitarist,
Bouba Sacko, and by singer Lafia Diabate, a veteran of the
Rail Band.
In 2001, he has won the
BBC Radio 3 music award in World Music - "Africa" category for his album titled ''Sigui''.
BBC 3 Awards for World Music
/ref>
In 2002, Djelimady collaborated on a track with rapper Common for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album ''Red Hot and Riot
''Red Hot + Riot'' (a.k.a. ''Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti'') is the fourteenth in a series of music compilation projects produced by Paul Heck and John Carlin of the Red Hot Organization and Grammy-winning music producer ...
'' in tribute to the Nigerian afropop innovator, Fela Kuti. He also features on 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 ...
's album '' Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3: Africa Sessions'' (also known as ''Throw Down Your Heart''). Tounkara plays a prominent role in the book ''In Griot Time'' by American musician and author Banning Eyre.
See also
* African fingerstyle guitar
References
External links
Tounkara biography
at BBC Radio 3
*
Living people
Malian musicians
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Kita, Mali
Label Bleu artists
21st-century Malian people
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