Kandia Kouyaté

This article is about the Malian musician and singer. For the Guinean singer, see Sory Kandia Kouyaté.

Kandia Kouyaté
Kouyaté in concert.
Background information
Also known as	Kandja Kouyaté
Born	1959 (age 64–65) Kita, Mali
Instrument	Kora

Kandia Kouyaté (also known as Kandja Kouyaté, born in 1959 in Kita, Mali) is a Malian jelimuso (a female griot) and kora player; she has earned the prestigious title of ngara, and is sometimes called La dangereuse and La grande vedette malienne. Kouyaté's dense, emotional, hypnotic manner of singing and her lyrical talents have earned huge acclaim in Mali, though she remained relatively little known outside Africa, due to extremely limited availability of her recordings. Her home town of Kita is known for love songs, which form a large part of Kouyaté's repertoire. She also sings praise songs.

Kouyaté's father, a balafon player himself, did not want her to go into music and wanted her to rely on a solid education instead the unpredictability of a musical career. Secretly, she learned from her mother and other family members how to sing and began performing occasionally at private gatherings. As a young girl, she began singing with her uncle Mady Sylla Kouyaté in his popular dance band, The Apollos, in Bamako.

Kouyaté's career began in the early 1980s, when she started using female choral vocals accompanying her. This practice was later picked up by stars like Mory Kante and Salif Keita, and is now an integral part of Malian music. Back in Bamako, she was pursued by wealthy businessman Amary Daou who gave her large amounts of money and cars as gifts. He later produced Kouyaté’s second album Balassama / Sarama (1983). She released another vinyl discs Kandja Kouyaté et L’Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali the same year.

One of Kouyaté’s most passionate fans was record producer Ibrahima Sylla, who urged her to give him the opportunity to make an album with her. She frequently declined, but he persisted. After years, Kouyaté gave in and her debut solo album Kita Kan (Sterns 1999) was released internationally in 1999. Her following album, Biriko (Sterns 2002) was released in 2002.

Kandia Kouyaté toured Europe in 1999 alongside Guinean singers Sekouba Bambino & Oumou Diabate and with a 12 piece West African ensemble that included kora, djembe, ngoni, balafon, bass, keyboards, backing vocals and percussion. The tour named as 'The Griot Groove Tour' included concerts in Germany, Austria, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Kandia Kouyaté suffered a stroke in late 2004. Her recovery was slow and challenging as she hardly spoke and did not sing at all. Many thought she was never going to sing again. In 2011, producer Ibrahima Sylla, whose health was also declining, visited Kouyaté at her home in Bamako and convinced her to return to the recording studio. Sylla died in December 2013 and did not live to complete the album, but with the help of François Bréant, who had worked with him on big records such as Salif Keita’s Soro (Sterns 1987) and Thione Seck’s Orientation (Sterns 2005), and Sylla’s daughter Binetou, the project Renascence was completed in 2015.

Discography

• Mayomba (1980, local cassette release)
• Balassama / Sarama (1983, LP, produced by Amary Daou)
• Kandja Kouyaté et L’Ensemble Instrumental National du Mali (1983, LP)
• OUA 84 (1984, local cassette release)
• Projet Dabia (1987, local cassette release)
• Sa Kunu Sa (1994, local cassette release)
• Kita Kan (1999, CD, Stern's STCD 1088)
• Biriko (2002, CD, Stern's STCD 1095)
• Ngara (2009, compilation tracks 1999/1984/1981)
• Symphonie Mandingue au Daniel Sorano a Dakar (2011, CD, Elite Production, BP2143)
• Renaissance, (2015)

External links

• An early TV recording on YouTube
• A brief bio