Mamadou Diabaté

Mamadou Diabaté (born 1975) He was born into a family of griots, with his father, Djelimory n'fa Diabaté, also a kora musician and a member of the Instrumental Ensemble of Mali.

In 1996, he went on to travel with a group of the Instrumental Ensemble of Mali, and eventually settled in the United States. Since his move to the US, Diabaté has performed with several musicians from the country, including jazz players Randy Weston, Guy Davis, and Donald Byrd, as well as with a griot ensemble composed of musicians from Mali and the United States.

His debut album, Tunga (2000), mixed West African music with blues and jazz influences. The album featured bassists Cheick Barry and Ira Coleman.

In 2005, Diabaté was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Traditional World Music Album category for Behmanka, but lost to the collaboration between his cousin Toumani Diabaté and Ali Farka Touré. The album was described as a "dazzling duet for one" by The Washington Post, while Philip Van Vleck, reviewing it for Billboard, described it as "a feat of remarkable virtuosity".

His third album, Heritage, was totally instrumental, again showing jazz influences. Also in 2010, he was part of the world music trio Djan Djan, which included Bobby Singh, an Australian tabla player, and Jeff Lang, an Australian slide guitarist.

His fifth album, Courage, was recorded in Mali and released in 2011. A review in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer described it as "a truly remarkable disc of music and deserves to be considered equal to anything written or recorded by any composer or symphony orchestra in the rest of the world".

Discography Albums Title Details Peak positions AUS Tunga Released: 2000 Label: Alula Records (ALU-1019) Formats: CD — Behmanka Released: 2005 Label:Tradition & Moderne (T&M 029) Formats: CD — Heritage Released: 2006 Label: World Village (468064) Formats: CD — Douga Mansa Released: 2007 Label: Top Shelf (INSTRUMENTAL 001) Formats: CD — Djan Djan (with Bobby Singh and Jeff Lang) Released: 2010 Label: ABC (2723504) Formats: CD, digital — Courage Released: 2011 Label: World Village Music (468108) Formats: CD, digital — Griot Classique Released: July 2014 Label: JRS (001) Formats: CD, digital —

Awards and nominations ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. 2010 Djan Djan (with Bobby Singh and Jeff Lang) Best World Music Album