Bassekou Kouyate Explained

Background:	person
Bassekou Kouyate
Instrument:	ngoni
Occupation:	Musician
Years Active:	1978–present
Label:	Outhere Records (Proper Music Distribution)

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)
• Bassekou Kouyate & Amy Sacko: Djudjon (One World Records, 2024)

Contributing artist

• The Rough Guide To Desert Blues (World Music Network, 2010)

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

• 2008 – BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music – Album of the Year & African Artist of the Year^[6]

External links

• • Outhere Records

Notes and References

1. Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: Bassekou Kouyate
2. Fly Global Music, March 10, 2007: Bassekou Kouyaté – Blue Like a River to a Desert
3. News: Dacks, David . Ngoni Hero Bassekou Kouyaté . https://archive.today/20120709062915/http://exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=141&csid2=4&fid1=44529 . dead . 2012-07-09 . Exclaim! . March 2010 .
4. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/amy-sacko-mn0002176208 Allmusic.com entry on Amy Sacko
5. Web site: Prom 54: World Routes Prom . bbc.co.uk . 22 August 2013 . 22 August 2013.
6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/a4wm2008/winners.shtml BBC3 Awards for World Music winners 2008