Courtesy photo.
African polyrhythms merge with the propulsive beats of modern rock in the hypnotic grooves of Mali’s biggest rockstar, Habib Koité, touring with two other distinguished West African musicians, balafon virtuoso Aly Keïta and kora player Lamine Cissokho
SUMMARY
- Wed, Oct 30 | 8 p.m. | Campbell Hall
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- Malian guitar sensation Habib Koité is joined by balafon master Aly Keïta and kora virtuoso Lamine Cissokho for an evening of free-flowing, danceable West African rock
- Mandé Sila means “the way of the Mandingo empire”
- $37.50 – $52.50 / $15 UCSB Students (Current student ID required)
- Tickets & Info: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu or (805) 893-3535
“First there was Hendrix, then Stevie Ray, and now Habib.” – Bonnie Raitt
“[Koite’s] reputation as a guitar player has become almost mythical, combining rock and classical techniques with Malian tunings that make the guitar sound like a kora or ngoni.” The New York Times
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Mandé Sila: Habib Koité, Aly Keïta and Lamine Cissokho on Wednesday, October 30 at 8 p.m. at UCSB Campbell Hall. Named the biggest pop star of the West African nation of Mali by Rolling Stone, Habib Koité’s sophisticated acoustic guitar technique brings the pentatonic tuning of the griot’s traditional kora to the slashing solos of classic rock. Koité’s soulful voice and magnetic personality have made him an international star of contemporary world music and inspired collaborations with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Eric Bibb. In this all-star ensemble, two other standard bearers of West African musical traditions join Koité: kora player Lamine Cissokho and balafon master Aly Keïta.
Habib Koité – “Fatma”
ABOUT HABIB KOITÉ
Malian guitarist Habib Koité is one of Africa’s most popular and recognized musicians. Koité comes from a noble line of Khassonké griots, traditional troubadours who provide wit, wisdom and musical entertainment at social gatherings and special events. He grew up surrounded by seventeen brothers and sisters and developed his unique guitar style accompanying his griot mother. He inherited his passion for music from his paternal grandfather who played the kamele n’goni, a traditional four-stringed instrument associated with hunters from the Wassolou region of Mali. “Nobody really taught me to sing or to play the guitar,” explains Koité, “I watched my parents, and it washed off on me.”
Koité was headed for a career as an engineer, but on the insistence of his uncle who recognized his musical talent, he enrolled at the National Institute of Arts (INA) in Bamako, Mali. In 1978, after only six months, he was made conductor of INA Star, the school’s prestigious band. He studied music for four years, graduating at the top of his class in 1982. His talent was so impressive that upon graduation, the INA hired him as a guitar teacher.
During his studies, Koité had the opportunity to perform and play with a series of recognized Malian artists, including Kélétigui Diabaté and Toumani Diabaté. He sang and played on Toumani Diabaté’s 1991 release Shake the World (Sony), and Kélétigui Diabaté became a full-time member of Koité’s band.
Koité takes some unique approaches to playing the guitar. He tunes his instrument to the pentatonic scale and plays on open strings as one would on a kamale n’goni. At other times Habib plays music that sounds closer to the blues or Afro-Cuban, styles he studied under Khalilou Traoré, a veteran of the legendary Afro-Cuban band Maravillas du Mali. Unlike the griots, his singing style is restrained and intimate with varying cadenced rhythms and melodies.
Mali has rich and diverse musical traditions, which have many regional variations and styles that are particular to the local cultures. Koité is unique because he brings together different styles, creating a new pan-Malian approach that reflects his open-minded interest in all types of music. The predominant style played by Koité is based on the danssa, a popular rhythm from his native city of Keyes. He calls his version “danssa doso,” a Bambara term he coined that combines the name of the popular rhythm with the word for hunter’s music (doso), one of Mali’s most powerful and ancient musical traditions. “I put these two words together to symbolize the music of all ethnic groups in Mali. I’m curious about all the music in the world, but I make music from Mali. In my country, we have so many beautiful rhythms and melodies. Many villages and communities have their own kind of music. Usually, Malian musicians play only their own ethnic music, but me, I go everywhere. My job is to take all these traditions and to make something with them, to use them in my music.”
With more than 400,000 albums sold, more than 1,700 concerts around the world, Koité has built, step by step, an exemplary career, with always a foot firmly rooted in Mali’s rich culture.
ABOUT ALY KEÏTA
Aly Keïta, a virtuoso of the balafon, was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. From his youngest age, he was introduced to the instrument by his father, himself a balafon player. The West African musician gained worldwide recognition for his mastery of the balafon, which he has been playing since childhood, and has now made it to the best: Omar Sosa, Joe Zawinul, Rhoda Scott, Paco Séry, Pharoah Sanders, Paolo Fresu, Hans Lüdemann Trio Ivoire, L. Subramaniam, Trilok Gurtu and Jan Garbarek, to name just a few.
Today, Keïta lives in Berlin and connects musical worlds with the impressive virtuosity. He wanders between spectacular African rhythm, polyphony and jazz elements, and combines them to create a wonderful and unique sound world – two magical hands and a thousand and one strokes. In 2022, Keïta won the German Jazz Prize in the category “Special Instruments.”
ABOUT LAMINE CISSOKHO
Lamine Cissokho is a griot born in Casamance, south of Senegal. In Western Africa, a griot is a member of a hereditary caste whose function is to keep an oral history and entertain with stories, songs and music.
Cissokho is the descendant of a famous griot family whose traditions date back to the 14th century. He was introduced to the kora as a child by his own father, Sana Cissokho, one of the great names of this generation. Lalo Keba Drame, considered as the king of the kora, was Lamine’s grand-uncle and inspirer.
At the beginning of his career, Cissokho learned and performed almost traditional Mandingo melodies. These traditional pieces passed down from generation to generation and he quickly developed a taste for composition and arrangement. He has so far composed and arranged about 200 of his own songs which are inspired by the Mandingo tradition but are revisited by touches of jazz, oriental music and nordic folk chords. Cissokho is constantly seeking to extend the musical possibilities of his kora and to integrate various influences into his creation. His tune of the kora makes him quite unique.
Between 2011 and 2023, Cissokho recorded six albums. During the last years, he has toured in many countries and played at several festivals. Bringing together musical genres, inspirations and traditions and growing through meetings and collaborations is what he loves above all. Cissokho performs as a soloist and has three duos with which he tours, the first being with the Indian raga master Manish Pingle, the second one with renowned French jazz pianist Olivier Hutman and the third with Fanta Yayo, Guinean diva.
Since 2019, Cissokho had the great honor to collaborate with the American blues and jazz artist Eric Bibb. Among other things, he played with Bibb at the Marciac Jazz Festival and Philarmonie de Paris. Another great collaboration was with Malian kora master Ballake Sissoko during Aarhus International Guitar Festival.
His music is like a melting pot of African, oriental and jazz music. Cissokho’s kora is played in a melodic and continuous flow of tones that are nicely woven together with other instruments in perfect harmony. It is difficult to sit still to all the rhythms in the music, but despite that, you can also get a meditative and calm feeling from it. Cissokho has an indomitable, contagious energy with which he charges his compositions and stage performances. He treats his kora with technical finesse but also with a great sensitivity and compliance in meetings with other musicians and singers.
ABOUT UCSB ARTS & LECTURES
Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.
Mandé Sila: Habib Koité, Aly Keïta and Lamine Cissokho is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures.
Presented in association with the UCSB Department of Music.
Tickets are $37.50 – $52.50 / $15 UCSB students (Current student ID required).
For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges 2024-2025 Season Sponsor Sara Miller McCune.
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their generous support of the 2024-2025 season.