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Mamadou Diabate was born in 1975 in Kita, a Malian city long known as a center for the arts and culture of the Manding people of West Africa. As the name Diabate indicates, Mamadou comes from a family of griots, or jelis as they are known among the Manding. Jelis are more than just traditional musicians. They use music and sometimes oratory to preserve and sustain peoples' consciousness of the past, a past that stretches back to the 13th century when the Manding king Sunjata Keita consolidated the vast Empire of Mali, covering much of West Africa. The stories of these glory days and the times since remain important touchstones for people today, not only for the Manding, but for many citizens of Mali, Guinea, Gambia, and Senegal. So to be born to a distinguished jeli family in Kita is already an auspicious beginning. Mamadou's father Djelimory Diabate played the kora, the jeli's venerable 21-string harp, in the Instrumental Ensemble of Mali. At the age of four, Mamadou went to live with his father in Bamako, where the Ensemble is based. When it came time for him to return to Kita and go to school, Mamadou knew that the kora was his destiny. His father had taught him how to tune the instrument, and from there he listened and watched and devoted himself to practicing the kora, to the point that his mother worried that he was not concentrating enough on school. When she took his kora away, it only reduced his interest in studying, and he quickly resorted to making his own kora so he could continue. Before long, Mamadou left school
and began playing kora for local jeli singers, and traveling throughout
the region to play at the ceremonies where modern jelis ply their trade,
mostly weddings and baptisms. When he was fifteen, Mamadou won first prize
for his kora playing in a regional competition and instantly became
something of a local celebrity. The next year, he went to Bamako, and
under the tutelage of his famous kora playing cousin, Toumani Diabate, he
worked the jeli circuit, backing singers at neighborhood weddings and
baptisms and entertaining the powerful at the city's posh Amitié Hotel.
Toumani gave his cousin the nickname Djelika Djan, meaning "tall
griot," a reference to Mamadou's impressive physical stature. The name has
stuck.
In 1996, a touring group from the
Instrumental Ensemble of Mali offered Mamadou the chance to travel to the
United States with a group of Manding musicians and cultural authorities.
Following a successful tour, Mamadou decided to continue his work in the
United States, and since then, he's made his home in and around New York.
Mamadou gets frequent invitations to perform with visiting Malian stars
including Ami Koita, Tata Bambo Kouyaté, and Babani Koné. He has performed
at the United Nations and at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. In
addition, he's delved into uncharted waters, jamming with all manners of
New York musicians, including jazz luminaries Donald Byrd and Randy
Weston.
Mamadou says that his father advised him to listen to all the best kora players and to learn from each one. The kora itself came to Mali from Gambia, and the Malian kora tradition has always put a premium on holding onto the old ways while constantly innovating and developing the art. Mamadou's debut release, TUNGA, makes clear that he's taken that legacy and his father's advice to heart. Mamadou displays his versatility and personal style on a solo track and a duet with Ira Coleman. Elsewhere, he invites some of his favorite New York based musicians to join him, including Fuseini Kouyate on the spike lute called ngoni, Famoro Diabate on balafon, and jazzman Ira Coleman on bass. Mamadou's goal was to highlight the instruments of Manding, but on two tracks, the group is joined by Abdoulaye Diabate, perhaps the finest jeli singer currently living in the United States.
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