Performing live in 2008.

Bassekou Kouyate (born 1966) is a musician from Mali. His band is known as Ngoni ba.

Life and career

He was born into the Kouyate family in Garana, Barouéli Cercle, 60 kilometres from Ségou, in 1966.[1] At the age of 12, he started playing the ngoni. In the late 1980s he moved to the capital, Bamako.[2]

Kouyate's debut album, Segu Blue,[3] was released internationally in 2007 by Outhere Records and distributed in the U.K. by Proper Music Distribution. The album was produced by Lucy Durán.[2] He has also appeared on a number of albums by Toumani Diabaté[2] and has performed in several European countries.[2] In 2010, Kouyaté toured with Béla Fleck.

Kouyate's wife, Amy Sacko, is also a successful solo artist and sings lead in his band.[2][4] His father, Mustapha Kouyate, was a ngoni player and his mother Yagaré Damba was a praise singer.[1] Kouyate, together with Amy Sacko and Ngoni ba, appeared at The 2013 Proms.[5]

Discography

Albums
  • Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Segu Blue (Outhere Records, 2007)
  • Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: I Speak Fula (Outhere Records, 2009)
  • Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Jama Ko (Outhere Records, 2013)
  • Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Ba Power (Glitterbeat Records, 2015)
  • Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Miri (Outhere Records, 2019)
Contributing artist

Filmography

  • 2008: Throw Down Your Heart, by Sascha Paladino: Himself
  • 2013: The Africa Express, by Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye: Himself
  • 2016: Easy Man, by Jasper Cremers and Dennis de Groot: Himself
  • 2016: Mali Blues, by Lutz Gregor: Himself

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: Bassekou Kouyate
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Fly Global Music, March 10, 2007: Bassekou Kouyaté – Blue Like a River to a Desert Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Dacks, David (March 2010). "Ngoni Hero Bassekou Kouyaté". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09.
  4. ↑ Allmusic.com entry on Amy Sacko
  5. ↑ "Prom 54: World Routes Prom". bbc.co.uk. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  6. ↑ BBC3 Awards for World Music winners 2008
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