| Alpha Yaya Diallo | |
| Birth Place: | Guinea |
| Occupation: | Musician, singer, songwriter |
| Instrument: | Vocals, guitar, balafon, djembe |
| Years Active: | 1980s–present |
| Label: | Jericho Beach |
Alpha Yaya Diallo is a Guinean-born Canadian guitarist, singer and songwriter.[1] He incorporates Guinea's rich musical tradition into his original compositions. Diallo has won two Juno Awards, shared a third, and was nominated another three times.[2]
Diallo was born in Conakry, the capital of Guinea.[1] When he was young, he followed his father, a doctor who was in demand all around the country; this exposed him to a wide variety of cultural experiences, both from the different ethnic groups within Guinea itself and from neighbouring countries.[3]
When Guinea gained its independence from France in 1958, its Marxist first president, Ahmed Sékou Touré, launched a cultural program aimed at the rediscovery and support of "Guinea's music, arts, dance and languages."[4] Diallo recalled that, "At the time every family had a member who was being trained in music." He started playing percussion in school, but taught himself to play the guitar at an early age (either "probably six or seven"[5] or 12,[1] [3] according to his inconsistent recollections). At the University of Conakry, he became the bandleader of the Sons of Rais and toured extensively with them throughout West Africa.[1] After graduation, he performed with Love Systems, Kaloum Star and Sorsornet Rhythm.[1]
Diallo moved to Europe in the mid-1980s, where he worked particularly with the Fatala group, which played traditional Guinean music and was associated with Peter Gabriel's music label.[1] [3] After extensive touring, Diallo settled down in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1991.[1] [3] In 1993, he released his solo first album, Nene, which was nominated for a Juno Award, as was his 1996 album Futur.[2] He won his first Juno, for The Message in 1999 in the "Best World Music Album" category, a second in 2002 for The Journey and shared a third in 2004 for the African Guitar Summit compilation.[2] He released Djama in 2005.[6] He won the Best World Artist-Solo at the inaugural Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2006.[7] He plays with Ghanaian guitarist Pa Joe Diallo, Adam Solomo and Mighty Popo in African Guitar Summit.[3] [8] In addition to the guitar, he also plays the balafon and the djembe.[1] His backup band, since 1992, is called Baffing.[1]
He produced a film documentary entitled Best of Both Worlds, which was filmed in West Africa, Canada and France.