Baba Sissoko
Encyclopedia
Baba Sissoko is a musician (tamani, ngoni
, kamalengoni, bala
, calabass
) and vocalist. Sissoko is a master of the talking drums (the tamani). He is also a jeli
by birth.
From childhood, he played tamani, often accompanying the traditional female griot during wedding and other traditional ceremonies.
In 1985, he toured internationally with the prestigious Instrumental Ensemble of Mali orchestra, playing the tamani and ngoni. In 1991, he founded his trio, Baba Sissoko & Taman Kan, and began extensively collaborating with top Malian artists and international musicians. His work with Habib Koité
is notable as their collaboration lasted 12 years and was widely celebrated. In 1995, Baba Sissoko released his first album with Tama-Kan.
Baba Sissoko's Taman Kan bandmates are Roger Sabal Lecco (who has played bass with Manu Dibango
, Miriam Makeba
, Fela Kuti
, Francis Bebey
, Lucio Dalla
, and Louisiana Red
), and Reynaldo Hernandez (who has played percussion with the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional of Cuba and the Gipsy Kings
). The trio celebrates their own cultures (Manding
, Bambara people, Sonrai, Yoruba
, and Kongo
), and incorporates blues, jazz and rock elements as well.
To date, Baba Sissoko has recorded and released more than five albums. He also has taught traditional drum in Brussels
, Belgium, and led conferences for the University of Calibre's Art, Music, and Spectacle Centre in Italy.
Xalam
Xalam, also spelled khalam, is the Wolof name for a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa. The xalam is thought to have originated from modern-day Mali, but some believe that, in antiquity, the instrument may have originated from ancient Egypt...
, kamalengoni, bala
Balafon
The balafon is a resonated frame, wooden keyed percussion idiophone of West Africa; part of the idiophone family of tuned percussion instruments that includes the xylophone, marimba, glockenspiel, and the vibraphone...
, calabass
Calabash
Lagenaria siceraria , bottle gourd, opo squash or long melon is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable, or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, the calabash is widely known as the bottle gourd...
) and vocalist. Sissoko is a master of the talking drums (the tamani). He is also a jeli
Griot
A griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
by birth.
From childhood, he played tamani, often accompanying the traditional female griot during wedding and other traditional ceremonies.
In 1985, he toured internationally with the prestigious Instrumental Ensemble of Mali orchestra, playing the tamani and ngoni. In 1991, he founded his trio, Baba Sissoko & Taman Kan, and began extensively collaborating with top Malian artists and international musicians. His work with Habib Koité
Habib Koité
Habib Koité is a Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist. His supporting cast, Bamada, is a super-group of West African talent, including Kélétigui Diabaté playing balafon.- Musical style :...
is notable as their collaboration lasted 12 years and was widely celebrated. In 1995, Baba Sissoko released his first album with Tama-Kan.
Baba Sissoko's Taman Kan bandmates are Roger Sabal Lecco (who has played bass with Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango
-External links:*...
, Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
, Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
, Francis Bebey
Francis Bebey
Francis Bebey was a Cameroonian artist, musician, and writer.Bebey attended the Sorbonne, and was further educated in the United States...
, Lucio Dalla
Lucio Dalla
Lucio Dalla is a popular Italian singer-songwriter and musician. He also plays clarinet and keyboards.He is the composer of Caruso , which has been covered by numerous international artists...
, and Louisiana Red
Louisiana Red
Louisiana Red is an African American blues guitarist, harmonica player, and singer, who has recorded more than 50 albums...
), and Reynaldo Hernandez (who has played percussion with the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional of Cuba and the Gipsy Kings
Gipsy Kings
The Gipsy Kings are a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier, who perform in Spanish with an Andalucían accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanos, Spanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Chico Bouchikhi is of...
). The trio celebrates their own cultures (Manding
Manding
Manding may refer to:* Manding languages, a group of dialects in West Africa* Mandinka** Mandinka language, one of the Manding languages** Mandinka people, a West African ethnic group...
, Bambara people, Sonrai, Yoruba
Yoruba music
The music of the Yoruba people of Nigeria is best known for an extremely advanced drumming tradition, especially using the dundun hourglass tension drums. Yoruba folk music became perhaps the most prominent kind of West African music in Afro-Latin and Caribbean musical styles...
, and Kongo
Kongo people
The Bakongo or the Kongo people , also sometimes referred to as Kongolese or Congolese, is a Bantu ethnic group which lives along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire to Luanda, Angola...
), and incorporates blues, jazz and rock elements as well.
To date, Baba Sissoko has recorded and released more than five albums. He also has taught traditional drum in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium, and led conferences for the University of Calibre's Art, Music, and Spectacle Centre in Italy.
Selected discography
- Culture Griot (2009), with Aka MoonAka MoonAka Moon is a Belgian avant-garde jazz band. Saxophonist Fabrizio Cassol, bassist Michel Hatzigeorgiou, and drummer Stéphane Galland are the founding members of the core trio...
and Black Machine - Bamako Jazz (2007)
- Djekafo (2006)
- Baba Sissoko & Taman Kan-Live in studio (2000)
- Djana (1999)
- Djéliya
- Griot
- Afro Blues Band-Bamako/Chicago (Live)
Collaborations
Sissoko collaborated and recorded with the following:- Youssou N'DourYoussou N'DourYoussou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...
- Salif KeitaSalif KeitaSalif Keïta is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita...
- Habib KoitéHabib KoitéHabib Koité is a Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist. His supporting cast, Bamada, is a super-group of West African talent, including Kélétigui Diabaté playing balafon.- Musical style :...
- Rokia TraoréRokia TraoréRokia Traoré is a Victoires de la Musique award-winning Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Mali as a member of the Bambara ethnic group, her father was a diplomat and she travelled widely in her youth. She visited such countries as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium and was...
- Ibrahim FerrerIbrahim FerrerIbrahim Ferrer was a popular Afro-Cuban singer and musician in Cuba. He performed with many musical groups including the Conjunto Sorpresa, Orquesta Chepin-Choven and Afro-Cuban All Stars...
- Buena Vista Social ClubBuena Vista Social ClubThe Buena Vista Social Club was a members club in Havana, Cuba that held dances and musical activities, becoming a popular location for musicians to meet and play during the 1940s...
- Ry CooderRy CooderRyland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
- Dee Dee BridgewaterDee Dee BridgewaterDee Dee Bridgewater is an American Jazz singer. She is a three-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award - winning stage actress and host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater...
- Don MoyeDon MoyeFamoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques.- Early life and Detroit Free Jazz :Moye was born in...
- The Art Ensemble of ChicagoArt Ensemble of ChicagoThe Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicago's AACM in the late 1960s. The group continues to tour and record through 2006, despite the deaths of two of the founding members....
- Mamady KeitaMamady KeïtaMamady Keïta is a master drummer from the West African nation of Guinea. He specializes in the goblet-shaped hand drum called djembe. He is also the founder of the Tam Tam Mandingue school of drumming...
- Kandia KouyatéKandia KouyatéKandia Kouyaté is a Malian jelimuso and kora player; she has earned the prestigious title of ngara, and is sometimes appellated La dangereuse and La grande vedette malienne...
- Amy Koïta
- Anga DiazAnga DíazMiguel 'Angá' Díaz , was a Cuban percussionist. With his explosive soloing and inventive five conga patterns, Angá was widely acclaimed as one of the world's greatest congueros...
- Cachaito Lopez
- Aka MoonAka MoonAka Moon is a Belgian avant-garde jazz band. Saxophonist Fabrizio Cassol, bassist Michel Hatzigeorgiou, and drummer Stéphane Galland are the founding members of the core trio...
- DJ Brahms
Similar music
- MalianMalianMalian may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Mali, a country in West Africa.* A person from Mali or of Malian descent. For information about the Malian people, see Demographics of Mali and Culture of Mali. For specific persons, see List of Malians....
, GriotGriotA griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
or JeliGriotA griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
, talking drums or tama, NgoniXalamXalam, also spelled khalam, is the Wolof name for a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa. The xalam is thought to have originated from modern-day Mali, but some believe that, in antiquity, the instrument may have originated from ancient Egypt...
, BalaBalafonThe balafon is a resonated frame, wooden keyed percussion idiophone of West Africa; part of the idiophone family of tuned percussion instruments that includes the xylophone, marimba, glockenspiel, and the vibraphone...
(or xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
), Kamalengoni, CalabassCalabashLagenaria siceraria , bottle gourd, opo squash or long melon is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable, or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, the calabash is widely known as the bottle gourd...