Songs
Composed by Gaoussou Kouyate
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- country:Mali
- style(s):Blues, Manding
- label:One World
- type:Band, Small Ensemble, Trio, Quartet, Quintet
- instrumentation:rock band, jazz combo, guitar
- artist contact:One World
Line up
- David Dembele (bass)
- Gaoussou 'Sobra' Kouyate (guitar & vocs)
- Jean Diarra (drums)
- Mariam Kouyate (backing vocals )
- N’to Thomas B. Sissoko (keys, flute)
Links
GAOUSSOU ‘SOBRA’ KOUYATE SOBRA DANCE
The guitarist of GUITARI BARO and of HAWA & KASSE MADY DIABATE 'TOUMARO'
DEDIKATED TO HIS TEACHERS DJELIMADY TOUNKARA, ALI KARKA TOURÉ; KASSE MADI DIABATÉ & TOUMANI DIABATÉ
"Sobra Dance" is eight tracks of thick, grooved-out Mali blues rooted in Mande tradition, and
it announces Gaoussou ‘Sobra’ Kouyate as a bandleader in his own right.
Produced by Gaoussou Kouyate and Carolina Vallejo of One World Records, the rhythm-driven
album carries the listener through eight distinct compositions that draw on the deep kinship
between Mande griot music and the blues, rock, and Latin styles that share its roots. The
versatile maestro was born on 30 June 1984 in Bamako-Sébénikoro, into a family of griots from
Sobra-Sandaman in the Kati district. He is nick named Sobra after the place in the mountains
west of Bamako where Gaoussou still returns to find inspiration, speak with the elders, and
reconnect with the source of his music. The exceptional artist started with percussion at five,
assisting his father, Adama Kouyaté, aka Diango, who played guitar. By six, Gaoussou started
playing guitar as well. When Gaoussou turned nine, Diango gave his talented son his own guitar
and sent him to study with Karfa Doumbia in the Mandinka village of Kignema, near Narena.
Gaoussou then trained with Djelimady Tounkara of the legendary Rail Band to complete his
formation as a professional guitarist. At twenty-five, driven by his fascination with the Songhoï
blues tradition of northern Mali, Gaoussou went on his own initiative to Niafunké, where he
spent a year with the family of the late Ali Farka Touré. When he returned from the north, he
became guitarist for Kasse Mady Diabate, and for Toumani Diabate, performing and recording
with both. Few guitarists alive can claim that breadth of schooling - the courtly Mande tradition,
the Rail Band’s electric sophistication, and the desert blues of the Niger bend, all absorbed first-
hand. This is an album of surprises that never feels restless. The compositions are mature yet
playful. Gaoussou has been listening to music from all over the world and makes musical quotes
and hints mixed with his own imagination and with great taste. Sobra Dance takes the listener
on an personal journey from the rivers to the desserts of Mali.
