Mamadou Diabaté (born 1975) is a Malian musician known for his work with the kora. He began playing quite early in his life, became known as a musician in the area of

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

in which he lived, and has since moved to the United States, recording several albums.

Life and career

Diabaté was born in Kita, Mali, a town relatively near to Mali's capital of

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

, known for its artistic and cultural prominence within the Manding community of

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

.Gesret, Céline (2010)
Mamadou Diabaté: "Si crees en tus decisiones, crees en tu destino"
, ''

La Vanguardia ' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper. Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...

'', July 30, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2013 He was born into a family of

griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...

s, with his father, Djelimory n'fa Diabaté, also a kora musician and a member of the Instrumental Ensemble of Mali. He began playing the kora, a 21-string instrument used extensively in West Africa, at a very young age, performing at various public events in his country and was becoming somewhat of a regional celebrity by that time as well.Fink, Matt
Mamadou Diabate Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved August 22, 2013 In 1996, he went on to travel with a group of the Instrumental Ensemble of Mali, and eventually settled in the United States."Mamadou Diabate delivers tradition with a taste of blues and jazz", ''

Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald'' (abbreviated as ''PPH''; Sunday edition ''Maine Sunday Telegram'') is a daily newspaper based in South Portland, Maine, with a statewide readership. The ''Press Herald'' mainly serves southern Maine and is focused ...

'', August 21, 2003, p. 13DGaynell Patterson, Karin ''Expressions of Africa in Los Angeles Public Performance, 1781-1994'', UMI Microform ref 3296731, pp. 319–320 Since his move to the US, Diabaté has performed with several musicians from the country, including jazz players

Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...

, Guy Davis, and

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...

, as well as with a griot ensemble composed of musicians from Mali and the United States. His debut album, ''Tunga'' (2000), mixed West African music with blues and jazz influences. A review in ''

CMJ New Music Report CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

'' commented on Diabate's "faster, nimbler style of kora playing".Must Hear: Mamadou Diabate ''Tunga''
, ''

'', February 14, 2000, p. 27. Retrieved August 22, 2013 The album featured bassists Cheick Barry and Ira Coleman.Henderson, Alex
''Tunga'' Review
,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved August 22, 2013 In 2005, Diabaté was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in the Traditional World Music Album category for ''Behmanka'', but lost to the collaboration between his cousin

Toumani Diabaté Toumani Diabaté ( ; 10 August 1965 – 19 July 2024) was a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he was involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styl ...

and

Ali Farka Touré Ali Ibrahim "Ali Farka" Touré (31 October 1939 – 6 March 2006) was a Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist, and one of the African continent's most internationally renowned musicians. His music blends traditional Malian music and its deriv ...

.Menconi, David (2010)
Diabate gets a Grammy lift
, ''

News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'', February 1, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2013Lavaine, Bertrand (2007)
Mamadou Diabate ''Heritage''
", RFI music, March 12, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2013Van Vleck, Philip (2006)
Mamadou Diabate ''Heritage''
, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', November 25, 2006, p. 52. Retrieved August 22, 2013 The album was described as a "dazzling duet for one" by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', while Philip Van Vleck, reviewing it for ''

'', described it as "a feat of remarkable virtuosity".Van Vleck, Philip (2005)
Mamadou Diabate Behmanka
, ''

'', June 25, 2005, p. 49. Retrieved August 22, 2013 His third album, ''Heritage'', was totally instrumental, again showing jazz influences. His group at this time included Djkorya Mory Kante (guitar), Noah Barrett (bass), Baye Kouyati (callabash, talking drum), and Balia Kouyate (balafon). A ''Billboard'' review by Philip Van Vleck described it as "a gorgeous album loaded with music that evokes Mali's soul". His fourth solo album, ''Douga Mansa'', a tribute to his father and grandfather, won the 2010 Grammy for Best Traditional World Music Album.Mamadou Diabaté llevará en marzo el ritmo de la kora a España
, ABC.es, February 15, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2013 Also in 2010, he was part of the world music trio ''

Djan Djan ''Djan Djan'' is a collaborative studio album, credited to Malian musician Mamadou Diabaté, and Australian musicians Bobby Singh and Jeff Lang. ''Djan Djan'' was released in Australia in March 2010. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010, the album ...

'', which included Bobby Singh, an Australian

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

player, and

Jeff Lang Jeff Lang (born 9 November 1969) is an Australian guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and music producer. who plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, cümbüş and drums. He is a three-time ARIA Award winner, for his albums '' Rolling Through This World'' ...

, an Australian slide guitarist. His fifth album, ''Courage'', was recorded in Mali and released in 2011.World Music Review: Mamadou Diabate
", ''

'', March 27, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2013 A review in the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'' described it as "a truly remarkable disc of music and deserves to be considered equal to anything written or recorded by any composer or symphony orchestra in the rest of the world".Marcus, Richard (2011)
Music Review: Mamadou Diabate - Courage
, ''

'', April 26, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2013

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, ''Djan Djan''
(with Bobby Singh and Jeff Lang) , Best World Music Album , , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

References