Artist Information
Biography
Ramata Diakite grew up in one of Africa's richest musical environments, the Wassoulou region of southern Mali. Renowned for its ancient spiritual traditions, magic, and hunters' lore, Wassoulou has also produced the bluesiest, funkiest traditional pop music in modern Mali. Ramata broke onto the scene in the wake of singer Oumou Sangare's spectacular rise in the early 90s. Oumou's bold fusion of roots and pop, and her willingness to sing honestly about the challenges facing African women marked a generation. In her own time, Ramata set out to go further, edging towards hip-hop on her first international album, and going on to create music unlike anything heard before in Mali or elsewhere. A soulful, standout singer in a nation of standout singers, Ramata is now poised to share her path-breaking music with a worldwide audience. - Excerpted from Banning Eyre's write-up of Ramata on Afropop.org
Instrumentation
Ramata Diakite, Lead Singer
Mamadou Sidibe, N'Goni
Guitar (artist varies)
Djembe, Percussion (artist varies)
Backing Vocals (artist varies)
Calabash, Percussion (artist varies)
Discography
SOLO ALBUMS:
I danse, 2004
Independent
Maba, 2003
Angular Banjo Records
Djonya, 2003
Djamnaty
Confirmation, 2000
Djamnaty
Na, 1998
MaliK7, Cobalt (1999 European Re-Release)
Artistes, 1995
Samassa Records
APPEARANCES:
Ramata contributed a track to "Putamayo Presents Mali", 2002
Putamayo Records
Backing Vocals, Toumani Diabaté & Taj Mahal, "Kulanjan", 1999
Hannibal Records
Backing Vocals, Siaka Sidibe
Backing Vocals, Salif Keita
Backing Vocals, Souleymane Sidibe
Ramata joined famed kora player Toumani Diabaté and blues legend Taj Mahal on the African Fête tour of America in 1999.
Video
Press
Setlist
Sets include 5-10 songs of 3-8 minutes in length for an average of 40 minutes per set. All songs in the set are original or arrangements of traditional songs.