- country:Guinea
- region:West Africa
- style(s):Manding, Afro Jazz
- label:not signed
- type:Band
- gender:male
- instrumentation:percussion, singer songwriter, guitar
- artist posted by:Yéliké Camara
Line up
- Yéliké Camara (Balafon)
Links
Descendant of a griot family, Yéliké Camara grew up in the Guinean capital Conakry where he learned the art of the balafon from his father and then from other great masters who introduced him to other instruments. He quickly became professional within the group Les Étoiles de Boulbinet and by frequenting many ballets in Conakry. In 1996, with only 12 years old, he joined the group Les Espoirs de Coronthie, a collective of 14 musicians and singers, with whom he produced 5 albums and toured extensively in Africa, Europe and Canada.
In France since 2007, he confirms his talent through collaborations with other artists and works in parallel his own songs which revisit the tradition to decline on several instruments the warm atmosphere of the Mandingo Afrojazz. He forms the group Douce Mandingue with which he multiplies the concerts. With the Fonbala association that he founded in 2011, he organizes balafon and African dance workshops and concerts in the Rhône-Alpes region.
In 2019, with his first solo album Nabinty, Yéliké Camara celebrates the Guinean way of life and culture, the doundoumba in the streets, the warm atmosphere of the Conakry night, family solidarity, the lessons of life and play passed on by his elders. With his balafon, he produces a renewed mandingo, spiced up with djembe solos, rock or reaggea guitars, mixed choirs, and updates in his own way the millenary art of the balafon.
Records
