Bassekou Kouyate

Bassekou Kouyate (born 1966) is a musician from Mali. His band is known as Ngoni ba.

Life and career

He was born into the Kouyate family in Garana, Barouéli Cercle, 60 kilometres from Ségou, in 1966. At the age of 12, he started playing the ngoni. In the late 1980s he moved to the capital, Bamako.

Kouyate's debut album, Segu Blue, was released internationally in 2007 by Outhere Records and distributed in the U.K. by Proper Music Distribution. The album was produced by Lucy Durán. His father, Mustapha Kouyate, was a ngoni player and his mother Yagaré Damba was a praise singer.

Discography Albums Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Segu Blue (Outhere Records, 2007) Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: I Speak Fula (Outhere Records, 2009) Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Jama Ko (Outhere Records, 2013) Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Ba Power (Glitterbeat Records, 2015) Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Miri (Outhere Records, 2019) Bassekou Kouyate & Amy Sacko: Djudjon (One World Records, 2024)

Contributing artist The Rough Guide to Desert Blues (World Music Network, 2010)

Filmography 2008: Throw Down Your Heart, by Sascha Paladino: Himself 2013: The Africa Express, by Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye: Himself 2016: Easy Man, by Jasper Cremers and Dennis de Groot: Himself 2016: Mali Blues, by Lutz Gregor: Himself

Awards 2008 – BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music – Album of the Year & African Artist of the Year