Kandia Kouyaté (also known as Kandja Kouyaté, born in 1959 in Kita,

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 ...

) is a

an ''jelimuso'' (a female

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 ...

) and kora player; she has earned the prestigious title of ''ngara'', and is sometimes called ''La dangereuse'' and ''La grande vedette malienne''. Kouyaté's dense, emotional, hypnotic manner of singing and her lyrical talents have earned huge acclaim in

, though she remained relatively little known outside Africa, due to extremely limited availability of her recordings. Her home town of Kita is known for love songs, which form a large part of Kouyaté's repertoire. She also sings

praise song Contemporary worship music (CWM), also known as praise and worship music, is a defined genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has developed over the past 60 years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are f ...

s. Kouyaté's career began in the early 1980s, when she started using female choral vocals accompanying her. This practice was later picked up by stars like

Mory Kante Mory is the name or part of the name of three communes of France: * Mory, Pas-de-Calais in the Pas-de-Calais ''département'' * Mory-Montcrux in the Oise ''département'' * Mitry-Mory in the Seine-et-Marne ''département'' Mory is also the name of t ...

and

Salif Keita Salif Keïta () (born 25 August 1949) is a Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa". He is a member of the Keita royal family of Mali. Biography Early life Salif Keita was born a traditional prince in the village o ...

, and is now an integral part of Malian music. In 1983, she recorded two vinyl discs, ''Amary Daou présente Kandia Kouyaté'' and ''Kandja Kouyaté et L’Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali''. Her debut solo album is ''Kita Kan''. Kandia Kouyaté toured Europe in 1999 alongside Guinean singers Sekouba Bambino & Oumou Diabate and with a 12 piece West African ensemble that included kora, djembe, ngoni, balafon, bass, keyboards, backing vocals and percussion. The tour named as 'The Griot Groove Tour' included concerts in Germany, Austria, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Kandia Kouyaté suffered a stroke in late 2004.Eyre, Banning . World Music Productions; Afropop Worldwide, ''Kandia Kouyaté''
, cited 31 July 2006. In 2015, she recorded again.

Discography

*''Mayomba'' (1980, local cassette release) *''Balassama / Sarama'' (1983, LP, produced by Amary Daou) *''Kandja Kouyaté et L’Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali'' (1983, LP) *''OUA 84'' (1984, local cassette release) *''Projet Dabia'' (1987, local cassette release) *''Sa Kunu Sa'' (1994, local cassette release) *''Kita Kan'' (1999, CD, Stern's STCD 1088) *''Biriko'' (2002, CD, Stern's STCD 1095) *''Ngara'' (2009, compilation tracks 1999/1984/1981) *Symphonie Mandingue au Daniel Sorano a Dakar (2011, CD, Elite Production, BP2143) * ''Renaissance'', (2015)

References

External links

*
A brief bio
Malian Kora players 1959 births 20th-century Malian women singers Living people People from Kita, Mali 21st-century Malian women singers {{Africa-musician-stub