Mamadou Sidiki Diabaté (born September 23, 1982) is a prominent Mandé kora player and jeli from Bamako, Mali. He is the 71st generation of kora players in his family and a younger brother to Toumani Diabaté.
Mamadou Sidiki Diabaté, widely known as “Madou,” was born on September 23, 1982 in Bamako, Mali. He is a Muslim and he's the youngest son of the late Sidiki Diabaté and Mariam Kouyaté. He is part of the seventy-first generation of kora players in his family. His family has a long heritage in the oral tradition of jalis (sometimes spelled djeli), or griots. “Jali” is the Mandingo word for the repository musician and storyteller of Mande’s ancient oral tradition, transmitting history and culture from generation to generation, from father to son.
“Mandé,” often used to describe Madou and his family, is a broad cultural designation of several ethnic groups in West Africa, including (though not exclusively) the Mandinka, Maninka (or “Malinke”), Sarakole, Bambara, and Dyula, residing primarily in Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, the northern regions of Ivory Coast, and the western regions of Burkina Faso.
The kora, arguably the most complex chordophone in African music, is a 21-stringed bridge-harp from West Africa. Madou, tutored by his father, began playing an eight-stringed kora at the age of three. From ages three to six, Madou accompanied his parents at weddings and baptisms, among other ceremonies. He played his first concert at the age of six at the Centre Culturel Français of Bobodioulasso, Burkina Faso with his father. In 1992, at age of ten, Madou made his first European tour. He continued to accompany his father up until Sidiki’s very last performance in 1996 at the Festival Printemps des Cordes, or the Spring Festival of Strings, in Dakar. Although Madou has largely followed in the steps of his father, his style has been susceptible to new techniques and innovations. Today, he often claims that his older brother, Toumani Diabaté, who is also a distinguished kora player, is his master, helping him to understand the endless potential of the kora.
Since 1997, Madou has been playing lead kora with some of the most important West African singers and musicians, including Kandia Kouyaté, Baaba Maal, and Salif Keita, among others. He has performed at more than forty festivals and over one thousand concerts throughout Africa, North America, Europe, and Australia. Madou can also play the balafon (framed xylophone,) and tamani (double-headed drum,) also of West African descent.
Madou is renowned for his extensive knowledge of traditional kora repertoire and command of both jazz sensibilities and foreign influences. His style is often associated with the “Jazz Manding” music movement developing Mali today. While Madou prides himself on preserving the tradition and legacy of the kora, he is also known for having diverged from his father’s style, inspired by afro-Latin groups like the Rail Band (also called the Super Rail Band, or Bamako Rail Band,) in addition to his brother’s music (particularly Toumani’s Bembeya Jazz).
In 2004, Madou received a degree in music from the Institut National des Arts (INA), in Bamako, Mali. Madou now resides in with his wife, singer Safiatou Diabaté.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamadou_Sidiki_Diabat%C3%A9
