Trio Da Kali (Mali)

About Trio Da Kali

Trio Da Kali is a group of musicians from the Mande culture of southern Mali who come from a long line of distinguished griots. Formed of voice, ngoni, and balafon, the Trio aims to bring a contemporary twist to ancient and neglected repertoires. Its debut EP is now available digitally from World Circuit, distributed in North America by Nonesuch Records. Hawa Kasse Mady Diabaté, daughter of legendary Kasse Mady Diabaté, is the singer of the Trio and has been compared by some to the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. At home, Hawa performs mainly on the wedding circuit, singing at parties held on the streets of Bamako (the main context in which most musicians in Mali make a living). The most distinctive feature of the Trio is the balafon, performed by Lassana Diabaté, formerly of Afrocubism and Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra. Its cascading lines, rippling and percussive riffs, and buzzing gourd resonators, are a familiar element in many Malian ensembles, but here for the first time the balafon is the lead instrument. The youngest member of the trio is bass ngoni player Mamadou Kouyaté, still in his early 20s, the eldest son of the world-renowned Bassekou Kouyaté. Trio Da Kali only came into being in late 2012, but already the group performed at a BBC Prom, the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, and the London Jazz Festival. The Trio formed specifically to develop a project with Kronos Quartet, whose artistic director David Harrington described it as "one of the most beautiful collaborations Kronos has had in our first 40 years." Recorded in Bamako, produced by Lucy Durán (Toumani & Sidiki) for World Circuit, the five-track EP is the first time this repertoire has been showcased on a release for an international market. Trio Da Kali was created with support from (and this EP is produced in collaboration with) the Aga Khan Music Initiative, a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture