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,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

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 ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, 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 t ...

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

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

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

La Vanguardia ' (; , Spanish for "The Vanguard") is a Spanish daily newspaper, founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan (Spanish copy is automatically translated into Catalan). It has its headquarters in Barcelona and i ...

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

griots 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 ...

, 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 music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. 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/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States. Founded in 1862, its roots e ...

'', 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 and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

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

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

'' 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 Ira Coleman (born April 29, 1956) is a French-American jazz bassist. Educated at the Berklee College of Music, he appears on four albums by Paris-based pianist Laurent de Wilde Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby and Priestley, Brian''Rough Guid ...

.Henderson, Alex
''Tunga'' Review
,

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

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

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

Ali Farka Toure ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 common era, CE) was the last of four Rashidun, Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was ...

.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 advertise ...

'', 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'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', 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 his 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 w ...

'' which included Bobby Singh, an Australian

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

player, and

Jeff Lang Jeff Lang (born 9 November 1969) is an Australian guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and music producer. Lang plays various types of guitar, both slide and standard, as well as banjo, mandolin, cümbüş and drums. He is a three-time ARIA Award w ...

, 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, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

'' 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 of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, ''Djan Djan''
(with Bobby Singh and Jeff Lang) ,

ARIA Award for Best World Music Album The ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Music Award for Best World Music Album, is an award presented within the Fine Arts Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. It was inaugurated in ARIA Music Awards of 1995, 1995 as Best Folk/World/Traditional Release. ...

, , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

References