Music from Mali: Cheick Hamala Diabaté

Washington DC’s resident griot, Cheick Hamala Diabaté is The Real Deal: a storyteller, poet, historian, and – dare we say – rock ‘n’ roll star straight from Mali. With the griot tradition firmly nestled in his family tree – his cousin is kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate; and his uncle is Djelimady Tounkara, legendary guitarist for the Super Rail Band – his music evokes wisdom from the elders while maintaining an infectious beat, ideal for dancing.

Cheick has played his n’goni (a banjo-like stringed instrument made from calabash and animal skin) the world over for audiences as varied as summer festival revelers and world music connoisseurs to World Bank dignitaries and the U.S. Congress. Along the way he has collaborated with artists like Bela Fleck, Bob Carlin, and Corey Harris and has opened for just about every notable African act, including Niger’s Bombino and Khaïra Arby, Mali’s Queen of Blues.

Cheick is often joined by an assortment of special guests. Play your cards right, and you just might catch him on a night when his nephew joins him, complete with his balafon, a large, traditional idiophone akin to the xylophone!

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