Trio Da Kali is a

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 ...

music group 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. Mali ...

constituted of three members: Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté (vocals), Lassana Diabaté (

balafon The balafon is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now ...

) and Mamadou Kouyaté ( ngoni). Hawa is the daughter of a

Kassé Mady Diabaté Kassé Mady Diabaté (1949, Kela, Kangaba, Mali – May 24, 2018, Bamako) was a Malian singer, musician and griot. His soft and particular voice with deep undertones – an atypical characteristic for a griot – earned him the nickname "The gol ...

. The latter is the son of the ngoni master

Bassekou Kouyate Bassekou Kouyaté (born 1966) is a musician from Mali. His band is known as Ngoni ba. He was born into the Kouyate family in Garana, Barouéli Cercle, 60 kilometres from Ségou, in 1966.Frank Bessem's Musiques d'AfriqueBassekou Kouyate/ref> At th ...

. Da Kali means 'to give a pledge' – in this case to their musical heritage, that of the Mande (hereditary lineages) which dates back to the time of

Sunjata Keita Sundiata Keita (Mandinka, Malinke: ; 1217 – c. 1255) (also known as Manding Diara, Lion of Mali, Sogolon Djata, son of Sogolon, Nare Maghan and Sogo Sogo Simbon Salaba) was a prince and founder of the Mali Empire. He is also the great-uncle o ...

, founder of the great Mali empire in the early 13th century. The trio collaborated with the American string quartet

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

with whom they recorded an award-winning album, ''Ladilikan'' (World Circuit BMG). The album includes arrangements of two tracks by American gospel singer

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to t ...

, as well as important pieces from the Mande repertoire such as "Sunjata" and the love song "Tita". The two groups toured together in many cities across the world. The song 'Demba by Tsha ft. Trio Da Kali is featured in the FIFA22 soundtrac

References

Malian musical groups {{Africa-band-stub