Vieux Kanté: The Young Man's Harp

The Young Man's Harp on iTunes (UK) / The Young Man's Harp on iTunes (US)

The Young Man's Harp: CD on Sterns Music 

Vieux Kanté is not an uncommon name in Mali, but it can get very confusing when, such is your fame, your name is adopted by others to help them get a gig. This, anecdotally, is exactly what happened to Noumoussa Soumaoro aka Vieux Kanté. As Afropop Worldwide editor Banning Eyre writes:-

“Vieux Kante was born in 1974 in Niesmala in the Sikasso region of Mali. Though blind from childhood, he participated in musical activities like other kids, starting at the age of seven on djembe drum. Vieux’s talent was immediately obvious to all. When he was eleven his brothers would go out to work in the fields, leaving him alone in the house. Vieux took to borrowing his brothers’ six-string harp, the kamale n’goni (youth harp), and learned to play the things he had heard on the radio and at local parties, where the kamale n’goni was then king.

This instrument was not restricted by the secrecy and taboo surrounding hunter’s culture and, in fact, was something of a youth itself, having only been invented in the 1960s. But in a few short years it had transformed village recreation throughout the Wassoulou region. So Vieux tapped into a deep vein of popular emotion when he emerged as one of the hottest young players.”

Towards the end of the 90s and by some accounts, aided by a Dutch hotel owner, Vieux Kanté visited Europe where he recorded with saxophonist Hans Dulfer, and also made a cameo appearance on ‘Mali Jazz’, the 1999 album by pioneering big band, Fra Fra Sound, where he’s credited as “Moussa ‘Vieux’ Kanté”. From 1997, a grainy YouTube clip shows him sharing a stage with both the Fra Fra Big Band and Lester Bowie.

LESTER BOWIE meets MOUSSA "VIEUX' KANTÈ, Nightown Rotterdam 1997 

Back in Bamako he proved an innovator who helped to develop the instrument, and by 2000 his kamale n’goni boasted 12 strings. As Banning writes “These modifications gave him more than an octave and a complete major or minor scale. As for the remaining notes, the “jazz notes,” Vieux said that although they are not on the instrument, he could play them - ”You have to do those yourself,” he said, “using your own head.” “

By this time Vieux Kanté’s fame in the villages and fields of the Wassoulou region that extends across southern Mali, northern Guinea and parts of the Ivory Coast, was assured. Songs were written in his name and, as noted, other performers either already had, or had adopted, his name. 

“When we met Vieux (Banning notes) he demonstrated amazing techniques … (and) it was obvious why he was considered one of the most dynamic and accomplished solo players in the country. At the time, he was leading his own group and word was they had recorded a cassette, but it had yet to hit the market. Then, just a few months later,

we heard that Vieux had died after a sudden illness.”

It’s been a long wait, but finally that Mali-produced cassette finds an international audience on Sterns Africa as “The Young Man’s Harp” 

Sans Commentaire: opening track on 'The Young Man's Harp' album. 

The following is from an interview with Kabadjan Diakite by Abdramane Fall and Modibo Diarra in early 2016

MD: Good morning, can you introduce yourself?

KD: My name is Kabadjan Diakite. I was in the Orchestre National of Guinea, ‘Les Badial’. When I came to Mali to see my senior brother Sékou Kanté who was with the ‘Rail Band’, I first met Vieux whom I naturally admired.

MD: As a matter of fact, let us talk about Vieux. How did you come across him?

KD: My senior brother Sékou asked me to accompany him to Zani Diabaté’s so that he could introduce me to him. That was when Vieux entered and I immediately noticed him and said ‘Nkoro, who is the person who has just entered?’. He answered that it was Vieux but made no other comment. And without seeking to understand, I told my senior brother that I wanted to work with that man.

I went to him at Torokorobougou, but could not meet him then and so asked his sisters to give him a message. When I finally did speak to him, I said that I’d seen him on television and admired him greatly. I let him know that I came from Guinea Conakry but lived in Mali and that, absolutely, I wanted to work with him.

At that time he was performing at the ‘Hotel Les Arbres’ and I was performing at ‘Mande Hotel’, and so I often went to see him at sessions in ‘Les Arbres’ which continued until the early hours. It was there he suggested that he come to visit me in my house, and so we became friends. Later he proposed that I accompany him on at the ‘Hotel Les Arbres’ and the important ladies who came to watch us meant we could really do great things.

And me, filled with wonder about his talent, I asked him if there was a ghost in his kamalé ngoni, because I knew other guitar, kora and ngoni players, but I had never met anyone like Vieux. 

He was the head of the band, I was his deputy. My senior brother even suggested I leave ‘Le Super Diatabande’ so that I could work with Vieux, but I couldn’t as I considered this a kind of betrayal. Nevertheless I continued working with Vieux and we recorded at the studio of Salif Keita at Dielibougou. We recorded seven songs, of which he sang four such as

“Tènè tounou tchinnou,

Haaannnn loni deni fari ne wala di ...”

and I sang three among which were ‘Kono’

“Hééééé kônô kônô kônô

Mande Kalou la Kônô bôlén dé Guinée

Djin djin djin ...”

and ‘Sinamon’

“Karamô Kê nana

O ki yala kounngo le kônô

Sina mousso ni djou dô wilila

Ka fô kara mô ke yé”

The wicked co-wife who wanted to set a dangerous snake against another wife, but the snake bit her and she herself died. The moral of the song is that when you want to harm somebody you may possibly harm yourself.

He said that I had a golden voice, and I told him “Heeee Vieux, me I am afraid of your talent, and now you want to be afraid of me?!”. He then suggested that I should become the head of the band because I am experienced and have been to foreign countries, but I refused saying that to lead is a matter of destiny.

MD: Did you tour together?

KD: Yes, thanks to Mr Zalé, the ex-mayor of the district V of Bamako, we toured almost throughout the whole Mali (Timbuktu, Gao and Bandiagara) as well as Burkina Faso.

MD: Can you tell us about when Vieux died?

KD: If I have a good memory, he died between 2005 and 2006, for our collaboration started in 1998, the year of the African Cup of Nation in Ouaga. His wife died a year before him and they left behind a son bearing the name of Mamadou.

His death really shocked me. But despite all, I continue performing. I perform very well with the musical band, even at present.

MD: What is your conclusion?

KD: I thank you journalists for having come over so that we can talk about the death of my friend and brother. I equally greet all the artists, who all know me more or less directly, either by my name or by my work. I greet you and confide in you for the future. I thank you.

Kandia Kouyaté: Renascence

re.nas.cence [riˈnasəns; -ˈnāsəns]

the revival of something that has been dormant ...

Kandia Kouyaté in interview 2015 (photo courtesy Binetou Sylla)

The Mandé art of jeliya carries a long and complex tradition of fine distinctions and endless debates about the qualities that earn its hereditary poets, musicians and soothsayers the highest accolades and honorifics. But on the great jelimusolu (female singers) of our time, there is near-unanimity regarding Kandia Kouyaté: she is a ngara. More than a skilled singer, a ngara is the extraordinary artist who possesses what many would say is a paranormal aura of majesty.

Renascence: CD on Sterns Music

Born in 1959 in Kita, an ancient city in south-western Mali that has bred many important musicians, Kandia grew up immersed in the arts and customs of the Mandé people. Her father was a celebrated player of the bala (xylophone), and he recognised his daughter’s talent for singing when she was a child. Insisting, however, that she receive a modern education, he enrolled her in a Catholic mission school where all instruction was in French. While excelling in mathematics she continued to sing at family gatherings. When her father became ill and could no longer work, she had to do what she could to support the family, so she left school, having completed eight years, and went to the Malian capital, Bamako. There, at the age of 16, she joined a wedding band that presented a mix of traditional and contemporary, local and foreign repertoires. With her regal beauty and a strong contralto that belied her tender age, Kandia lofted the band’s popularity and drew the attention of the most important musicians and music patrons in the city and in the country.

Kandia Kouyaté circa 1976

Two years after her arrival in Bamako, Kandia married a prominent jeli from Kayes, and it was in his home on the banks of the Senegal River that she undertook the serious study of jeliya – its vocal technique and its canon of proverbs, praises, poems and songs – under the tutelage of her mother-in-law. On a visit to her brother-in-law in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in 1980, she gave a private recital that was recorded and circulated around West Africa on cassette. As her reputation spread, invitations to perform at private and public events mounted, and so did her rewards. In addition to cash and gold, wealthy patrons gave her new cars, and one placed a light aircraft at her exclusive disposal. She also earned an epithet, La Dangereuse, from reports that when she sang many listeners felt dizzy and some fainted.

With that kind of success, Kandia saw no reason to make records. She allowed more cassettes-locales to be taped and marketed, but despite their popularity in Mali, they didn’t travel beyond West Africa. The singer, however, did. Well-connected Malian émigrés brought her to France for concerts, and in 1987 she was one of a select group of Mandé jelew that participated in a London festival of royal court music from around the world. In 1989 and ‘90 she appeared in the USA as a star of the package tour called Africa Oyé. Record companies offered her contracts, but she turned them all down. Her most ardent suitor was the Senegalese record producer Ibrahima Sylla. She resisted, he persisted, and eventually he got the opportunity to work with her when the popular Guinean jeli Sékouba Bambino Diabaté invited her to sing a duet with him for his album Kassa (Sterns 1997). That experience convinced her of how much she could do with a good producer in a modern recording studio, but another two years passed before she and Sylla made her first full album for international release on CD.

Kita Kan (Sterns 1999) was a triumph. Produced in Paris, it was unlike any prior album of jeliya. In addition to the traditional Mandé instruments – kora, ngoni, bala, gita and djembé – the exquisite arrangements employed electric guitars in several pieces, horns in others, and, in three songs of breath-taking splendour, a string orchestra. In each setting, and in various styles, Kandia Kouyaté was in full command of her art, her voice resonant and her delivery supple and purposeful. Kita Kan was (and still is), as the British music magazine fRoots put it, “the celebratory showcase of a true diva.”

It was followed three years later by the equally impressive Biriko (Sterns 2002). Working with Sylla and a somewhat smaller number of musicians this time in Abidjan and Paris, Kandia again enlarged her repertoire and stylistic range, singing one song accompanied only by a pair of acoustic guitars, bringing the percussion forward for dance numbers, and here and there using mixed supporting voices to marvellous effect. According to the BBC, Biriko “pulses with integrity and passion, and exudes a deep, reassuring strength.”

Kandia’s next recordings were for two albums entitled Mandekalou: The Art and Soul of the Mande Griots. It had long been Ibrahima Sylla’s ambition to bring the greatest living Mandé jelew together to celebrate the history and culture of the Mandé people, and this he accomplished in 2004. Among the 20 singers and instrumentalists who gathered in Bamako were Sékouba Bambino Diabaté, Kasse Mady Diabaté, Bako Dagnon, Djelimady Tounkara, Djessou Mory Kanté, and, of course, Kandia Kouyaté.

Shortly after that grand summit meeting, Kandia suffered a stroke. Her recovery was slow and difficult, and for seven years she hardly spoke or sang. Even after regaining her strength she considered herself retired. By that time Ibrahima Sylla was in failing health, but he had not lost his ardour for her voice or his awe of her aura, and so in 2011 he visited her home in Bamako and convinced her to return to the recording studio. Lamentably, he did not live to complete the album. He died in 2013, and his daughter Binetou finished the project together with François Bréant, who had worked with Sylla on such recording landmarks as Salif Keita’s Soro (Sterns 1987) and Thione Seck’s Orientation (Sterns 2005). 

Kandia Kouyaté 2015 - Interview (French) 

“This new album was made only because of Sylla,” says Kandia. “I had been ill and Sylla was gravely ill, but he was always there [in the studio], encouraging me. He asked me to sing everything I knew, everything that was in my head. I said 'I know nothing. I’ve forgotten everything.' But he insisted. 'Tomorrow it will come back,' he said.”

And it did. Her voice, darker and richer than when it first carried her to fame more than 30 years ago, has an authority that arises from a very deep well of wisdom and spirit. It is the voice of a true ngara. Renascence is Kandia’s resounding declaration of personal and artistic rebirth.

Ken Braun (with thanks to Lucy Durán)

Renascence on iTunes (UK)

Renascence on iTunes (US)  

1. Koala Boumba 

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Backing vocals - Hadja Kouyaté, Manian Demba & Nanakoul Kouyaté
Acoustic guitar - Fadiala Diawara
Electric guitar - Djely Moussa Kouyaté
Kora - Djely Moussa Condé
Balafon - Lansiné Kouyaté
Bolon - Amadou Sodia
Karignan & yaraba - Mamadou Sacko
Trillian bass & keyboards - François Bréant

The epic journey of the Kouyatés’ ancestors, Kandia’s own lineage, who came from Guinea and settled in Kita, Mali. From there they spread outwards, including to Sikasso, also in Mali, to Burkina Faso and beyond to France and the USA. While they are all children of Yamadi Kouyaté, the descendants of Djeli Mamadou Kouyaté stayed in Kita, and those of Djeli Sotigui Kouyaté went to Bamako, where they were welcomed and provided for by the elders. They did not accept division but always advocated cohesion and unity. Kandia pays tribute to the late Sotigui Kouyaté, the Burkinabé actor who died in 2010 and was a big loss to the Kouyaté family and the world of art. Kandia urges her fellow Kouyaté griots to cultivate unity and brotherhood.

2. Mali Ba

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Backing vocals - Hadja Kouyaté
Guitars - Djely Moussa Kouyaté
Bass - Fadiala Diawara
Percussion & keyboards - François Bréant

“This is dedicated to Mali, our great country, on the 50th anniversary of its Independence”. In this vibrant tribute to Mali’s past and present political leaders, Kandia invites Malians, young, old, men and women alike, to get up and work harder for their country. She urges them to remember and not to let down the men and women who fought with bravery and courage against colonisation. She sings about the joy that both independence and later democracy brought to the people of Mali.

3. Kassi Doundo (the crying rooster)

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Backing vocals - Hadja Kouyaté, Manian Demba & Nanakoul Kouyaté
Guitars - Djély Moussa Kouyaté
Bass - Fadiala Diawara
Tama - Mamadou Sacko
Triangle, shaker & keyboards - François Bréant

“Oh, what a sight, seeing a nice young man at the entrance of the family compound! Listen, people of Djenne, have you not heard of Bara Koita? He is like the rain needed for seeds to grow. Bara, you are the pride of the Koita and Cissé families and of people wherever you go. Blessed son of Babarou Koita Danbour and Binta Cissé, you carry a heavy load for others. I call on Bara Koita on my way to Djenne, on my way to Bamako and on my way to France. There are not many people of trust and compassion left in this world. Having such a great person around, even if he lives in solitude, is much better than all the silver and gold in this world.”

4. Mogoya Douman (a beautiful relationship)

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Acoustic guitar - Fadiala Diawara
Electric guitar - Djely Moussa Kouyaté
Bass - Fadiala Diawara
Ngoni - Badjé Tounkara
Djembé & karignan - Mamadou Sacko
Triangle & keyboards - François Bréant

A praise song to Seydou Sidibé, a Fula patron from Biriko, Mali. “I will follow my patron Seydou Sidibé from Biriko and enjoy myself. You have everyone’s respect in Biriko. I will follow the Sidibés of Biriko. Not all men are real men, but my patron Seydou is a real man. You have become a father-figure for many here in Mali and in America. When you are a good person, you become everyone’s friend. You are most blessed; you have been kind to me and so have your wife and children. Thank you for your generosity and kindness.”

5. Dakolo

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Koras : Djely Moussa Condé
Bendir & ghatam : François Bréant

In praise of Mamadou Lah (aka Dakolo), a patron who passed away in November 2014 at the age of only 35. Wealthy and famously generous, he donated freely to the poor and to the griots of Mali. Each year he helped many Muslims make their pilgrimage to Mecca. When he died the whole country mourned and he was the topic in local and social media for many weeks after. Kandia thanks him for all that he did and especially for his kindness to the poor.

6. Konoba Doundo (a large bird)

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Backing vocals - Hadja Kouyaté, Manian Demba & Nanakoul Kouyaté
Acoustic guitar - Fadiala Diawara
Electric guitar - Djely Moussa Kouyaté
Guitare électrique - Djely Moussa Condé
Bass - Fadiala Diawara
Balafon - Lansiné Kouyaté
Ngoni - Badjé Tounkara
Bongos, shaker & keyboards - François Bréant

“The death of a loved one causes pain, and the void left is hard to bear. But God is good and kind.” Kandia remembers and praises the kindness of Batafin Soumano, her late great-aunt whom, as a mark of affection, she refers to as “Lagaré”, meaning “the youngest of the siblings” or, by extension, “favourite”. She likens Batafin to a big and powerful bird, as she was a great ngara, a mastersinger yet very discreet and one who could never willingly deceive anyone. Batafin was the wife of Fily Dabo Sissoko, an early Malian writer and prominent political figure of the pre-independence years. He fought alongside Modibo Keita, the first president of Mali, for independence from France. Following political disagreements between them, Fily Dabo was imprisoned in Northern Mali, where he died in 1964. He played a big part in the recent history of Mali.

7. Tiè faring (Souri) (brave men)

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Backing vocals - Manian Demba, Nanakoul Kouyaté & Sekou Kouyaté
Ngonis - Badjé Tounkara
Calabass, karignan & yaraba - Mamadou Sacko
Trillian bass, timbales & keyboards - François Bréant

Dedicated to Sory and the brave Fula men of Biriko. Kandia sings that when the cowards run away their excuse is they do not wish to be a vulture’s lunch. “Let me call the brave Fula men from Marna. I am addressing the real Fula warriors, the mighty blacksmiths and the powerful griots of Biriko who were honourable men and who did so much for my grandfather”.

8. Sadjougoulé (ill health)

Kandia Kouyaté: on location 2015 (photo courtesy Binetou Sylla)

Kandia Kouyate 2015 - CLIP Sadjougoulé

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Backing vocals - Hadja Kouyaté, Manian Demba & Nanakoul Kouyaté
Guitars - Djely Moussa Kouyaté
Bass - Fadiala Diawara
Kora - Djely Moussa Condé
Balafon - Lansiné Kouyaté
Percussion & keyboards - François Bréant

“Don’t cry, Kandia. A person has no other enemy but illness.” Kandia recalls the health issues which prevented her from performing. “This life is for a short period. When I think about yesterday and look at myself today, I praise God for my life and His good deeds. I am grateful to all my jatigiw (patrons), to the authorities, to Morocco and to all the people in Europe and Asia who helped me to recover. I will not cry because I have children and people to lean on. You find your true friends when you are in need.” She then quotes from the Quran the story of prophet Ayyub (Job). who survived many afflictions, including disease, but remained steadfast to God. Because of this God restored his health and wealth.

9. Mandjala (take off the headscarf!)

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Backing vocals - Hadja Kouyaté
Bass - Fadiala Diawara
Balafon - Lansiné Kouyaté
Djembé & dounumba - Mamadou Sacko
Percussion & keyboards - François Bréant

A light-hearted song in which Kandia invites all women to take off their headscarves and join her in celebrating the arrival of Ami Touré. “Ami Touré, descendant of Mandé Mory, daughter of Fakaba and Fanta. Let’s all take off our headscarves and celebrate, whether we are friends with her or not.” This gesture, like that of men taking off their hats for a woman, symbolises respect.

10. Camara Donfoli (the dance of the Camaras)

Vocals - Kandia Kouyaté
Backing vocals - Hadja Kouyaté, Manian Demba & Nanakoul Kouyaté
Narrator - Aliou Diabaté
Acoustic guitar - Fadiala Diawara
Guitar - Fadiala Diawara
Kora - Djely Moussa Condé
Balafon - Lansiné Kouyaté
Ngoni - Badjé Tounkara
Bolon - Amadou Sodia
Djembé & dounumba - Mamadou Sacko

Concerning the genealogy and significance of the Camara family name, common in the Mandé area of West Africa. “Ka mara” means to keep the hut or the compound and its content, including the people and the fetish. “Today is a great day in Mandé. Come on and dance with the Camaras, because this is their day”. Kandia sings the history of the Cameras through their journey across Guinea and Mali. It began with Mansa Kiran, the ancestor of Niani Massa Kara who gave birth to six sons. Three of them went to Guinea and settled in the Bouré region, and the other three went to live in Mali, in Kaarta and Siby where Kama-djan himself is from. “Praises and respect are due to all Camara children in Mandé. If you know where you come from, you will know where you’re going”.

Wilfred Willey

Recorded at Studio Bogolan, Bamako, Mali & Studio SoYuz, Paris, France
Sound engineer: Lionel Boutang
Musical production and arrangements by: François Bréant
Produced by: Ibrahima Sylla
Additional production: Binetou Sylla
Coordinator: Sékou Kouyaté
Management : Charlotte Kalala
All words and music by Kandia Kouyaté
Published by Sterns Music Publ.
Photos courtesy: Binetou Sylla
A SYLLART RECORDS Production for STERNS MUSIC
Thanks to Tapa Sylla, Sékou Kouyaté, François Bréant, Julien Dayan and Robert Urbanus.

Je remercie Allah Le tout Puissant et toutes personnes qui m'ont soutenu et aidé pour cet album, ma famille, ma mère, mes diatiguiws, mes amis et tous ceux qui m'ont aidé dans l'épreuve de ma maladie.

Kandia Kouyaté

Kandia Kouyaté in interview 2015 (photo courtesy Binetou Sylla)