WOMAD

N'Faly Kouyate & Dunyakan

From Guinea

N’Faly Kouyate was born into one of the the most famous families of griots of the Mandingue, the region of West Africa which includes Guinea-Conakry, Mali, the Gambia, Senegal, and Burkina Faso. As one of the most charismatic performers of his generation, N’Faly is ideally placed to carry on the legacy of his father and also to help promote knowledge, enjoyment, and respect for his culture throughout the world. He is the son of Konkoba Kabinet Kouyate of Siguiri in the Republic of Guinea. Konkoba is a rare grade of griot, superior among griots. This rare grade (there exist fewer than three in the world today) was acquired by Kabinet through achieving difficult tests and gaining a perfect mastery of the secrets of life, composed of its deep occult secrets and also all of the magic of the Mandingue world. N’faly is joyfully following in the footsteps of his father, seeing his preordained role of griot as a responsibility and a means of explaining the beautiful Mandingue culture to the rest of the world. Through his performances, he uses music and storytelling as a way to open doors between different peoples.In his solo career, he works extensively in Belgium and, indeed, throughout Europe, to teach the history of the Mandingue. Through these performances, he proposes to advance not only his culture, but his dream of the realization of understanding and tolerance among all cultures of the world. To this end, he works with his wife Muriel Finet Kouyate in their organization Namunkanda (The Defense of the Culture). Through Namunkanda, he hopes to realize his goal of making certain that all cultures’ contributions, both musical and cultural, be recognized and respected. He also pursues his career and goals through his work with his own ensemble Dunyakan (“The Voice of the World”) in which blues, world music, jazz and the traditional music of Guinea are intermingled. This is perhaps where his true heart lies. Their music includes traditional instruments such as the kora, djembe, balafon, and more traditional Western instruments such as the double bass and the drum battery. Their polyphonies are largely inspired by the music of Guinea, and their reliance on these lends sweetness to the rhythms, giving Dunyakan a unique sound in the cadre of “world music.” N’Faly’s strong compositional skills give Dunyakan its own identity, intensely personal, formed by his ideals and dreams. 2001 saw the release of their CD, “N’Na Kandje.”