Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: N'faly Kouyaté & Dunyakan (Guinée) |
Musiques d'Afrique Musiques de Guinée |
N'faly Kouyaté is a young but respected kora player based in Brussels.
He is well-known as a member of the Afro Celt Sound System, a world music band of Celtic and African musicians.
N'faly features on their albums since the album From a respected griot lineage, he is the son of Konkoba Kabinet Kouyaté and acquired the rare Konkoba grade of griots through which he gained knowledge about life through a range of difficult tests. In Guinea, he grew up in music, and he has performed with several ensembles such as the Troupe universitaire de Conakry, Les Héritiers de Sory Kandia Kouyaté and La Troupe Nationale de la Guinée. After he arrived in Brussels around 1996, he became very active in teaching young Belgians about Mandingue culture, and soon he created his own group Dunyakan (The Voice of the World). A non-profit organisation Namunkanda (The Defense of Culture) was created in order to channel his teaching activities and promote the understanding of African and Mandingo culture. A successful tour in Wales in 2003, and his appearance on the Nuits d'Afrique Festival in Montreal, Quebec in 2004, were the start-off of an international career as a solo artist. His album Sources: www.dunyakan.com [external link] www.cadence-mandingue.be [external link] www.afrocelts.org [external link] |
Title | Year | Label | Remarks |
Tunya | 2008 | Galileo GMC029 | |
Kora Grooves From West Africa | 2004 | ARC Music EUCD 1892 | Re-release of N'na Kandjé (repackaged and distributed globally) |
N'na Kandjé | 2001 | Namun Records |