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Coming from a long line of Guinean (Conakry) Griots, M’Bady Kouyaté is one of the best Kora players of the Manding world; an over-talented instrumentalist, an exceptional improviser, a singer-storyteller with a bluesy, rocky voice in the greatest epic tradition.
Accompanied by his wife Diariou Kouyaté with her splendid, vibrant voice, and surrounded by his instrumental ensemble, he made the most of his sojourn at the third MASA in Abidjan to record an album where instrumental pieces alternate with traditional songs and personal compositions. On this album you can (re)discover a musical universe of an extraordinary richness.
Photograph: Akwa Betote
M’Bady Kouyaté was born in 1934 in Koundara (Republic of Guinea). His ancestors were originally from the Kingdom of Gabú (Guinea-Bissau). In early childhood his parents started him off learning songs and playing instruments. In the immense Manding empire, created in the 12th century by Sundjata Keita, the great musical culture is handed down from generation to generation by the Griots or Djelis. They are the “holders and the conservers” of the oral tradition – masters of words – storytellers, poets etc…
M’Bady Kouyaté, a descendant of this dynasty of Griots, is the artistic director of the prestigious Ensemble Symphonique Traditionnel National de la République de Guinée (National Traditional Symphonic Ensemble of the Republic of Guinea) – founded in 1960 by El Hadj Sidikiba Diabaté, an African musicologist. M’Bady is considered one of the very best Kora players – a magical instrument, made from a calabash and twenty one pinched strings – of the Manding world. A pacifier, a counsellor, a conductor, he is an ambassador of the great tradition.
By creating this group – of varying numbers - in 1995, M’Bady Kouyaté wished to transmit and communicate this tradition. Within this ensemble are his wife Diariou Kouyaté and his young son Sékou Kouyaté. Other confirmed Guinean artists and musicians regularly come and accompany the voices and the Kora, on traditional instruments: the bolon (African double-bass), the balafon – the doun doun, the djembé and the boté (percussion) – or on modern instruments, such as the guitar, according to the proposed programme.
In this manner M’Bady would like to transmit, through his music, the historic message of the ancient poems and stories and of the secular tradition of the Manding Kingdom, by giving priority to lyrics and song. That is why he sings and tells stories himself. His wife Diariou is one of Guinea’s greatest griottes and her voice is the perfect complement to the subtle and spellbinding notes of the Kora, that age-old and emblematic instrument.
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