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Sékouba Diallo, cet autre dieu de la musique peule, était là. Sa voix et le sens de ses chansons nous faisaient voyager jusqu’à dans le pays macinanké. Il nous faisait plonger dans l'hisoire de l’empire peule du Macina qu’était la Dina, fondée en 1817 par Cheikou Amadou. Dans un parfait peule, il chantait, avec la bonne cadence que l’on connaît de lui, cet empire historique qui avait impressionné tous les historiens de par son organisation et son originalité. Le chanteur est sans doute parti puiser dans les tréfonds d’un passé glorieux du peuple-berger dont il est originaire pour électriser son public. A vrai dire, l’artiste peule n’a pas non plus raté son virage toute la soirée.
A un moment, pour rendre la musique davantage plus mosaïque, il a mêlé sa belle voix à celle de Sira Kouyaté comme pour montrer au public qu’ils sont des démiurges de l’improvisation. Pendant une bonne quinzaine de minutes, ils ont chanté en duo de la façon la plus parfaite et la plus mélodieuse. Tout cela était accompagné des pas des invités et des chanteurs eux-mêmes. Mais le public n’était pas au bout de sa surprise musicale.
- SONINKARA
Discography
"SEKOUBA DIALLO" (2003)
Promotional CD for "AFRIKAA" - "Ooye-Lele"
"Pullo Aynoy"
"Afrikaa"
Receiving radio airplay in France, Senegal, Mali'
"AFRIKAA" (Soon to be Released)
Photos
Bio
Singer/songwriter/musician SEKOUBA DIALLO has been called a “dieu de la musique peule” (God of Peul music)*.
SEKOUBA was discovered at age twelve, and mentored, by his uncle, BAABA MAAL, and is both a repository, exponent and illuminator of the traditional music of Senegal and Mali and a talented and skilled innovator, writing, composing, performing and recording his own contemporary creations, which blend ancient and modern instruments and ideas to express his thoughts views and feelings in respect of such diverse, yet related, topics as immigration, integration, unity, the Family, learning, tradition, his home village and region, and the modern world.
SEKOUBA was not born into the Djelia/Gawlo (Griot) caste of West African musicians. Rather, he is a self made Artiste, a member of one of the noble families of Senegal who has overcome caste restrictions and is on the rise to the top of his chosen profession by virtue of his beautiful and striking voice, innate talent and instinctive musicality, charisma, arresting stage presence, dedication to his music, and drive to succeed.
Born in Goudiry, a village in eastern Senegal near its border with Mali, SEKOUBA has been dedicated to singing since the age of twelve. He made his debut as a singer in traditional ceremonies accompanied by pastoral flutes and the four stringed Senegalese ngoni (a traditional forerunner to the guitar and banjo).
Neither SEKOUBA’s Guinean born Mother nor Malian born Father are musicians or singers, so it was his uncle, BAABA MAAL, revered world renowned interpreter of traditional, and creator of contemporary, Senegalese music, who first discovered the true extent of young SEKOUBA’s singing talent and encouraged and mentored him. SEKOUBA sang with BAABA MAAL at all his concerts and rapidly took a liking to performing on stage.
In 1993 the young SEKOUBA moved to the Malian capital, Bamako, to study music with the respected teacher and performer, CHEIK SEKOU DIABATE, talented guitarist and leader of the orchestra of the famed diva, NAINY DIABATE, who was so impressed with SEKOUBA’s talent that she included him in her troupe, in which he performed continuously for the next ten years.
In 2003 he accompanied NAINY DIABATE on her international tour, performing at numerous festivals and events, including AFRICOLOR 2003 at Seine – St Denis, Paris, part of his performance at which is preserved on the MONDOMIX website**. SEKOUBA also performed with BAABA MAAL and released his first album, the eponymous ‘SEKOUBA DIALLO’ in 2003 and in 2004 he relocated to Paris, where he was granted residency of France as an Artiste.
SEKOUBA has also sung on stage with ALI FARKA TOURE, SALIF KEITA, TOUMANI DIABATE OUMOU SANGARE, BA CISSOKO and BABA SISSOKO, and continues to be a popular and enthusiastically received performer throughout France, and West Africa, as a solo and featured artist at Festivals, events and soirees, including GRAND CONCERT DANSANT (May 2008), WEST AFRICA SHOW 2 (October 2008), WEST AFRICA SHOW III (September2009), AFRICA-SHOW (April 2010), LA GRANDE SOIREE MANDINGUE (June 2010), and AS FAR KO (October 2010), among many others, as well as at nightclubs, cafes and private functions, with one or two supporting musicians or with his seven piece group FARINA DAMBE, consisting of musicians from Senegal, Mali, the Antilles and The Gambia.
SEKOUBA, who is now starting to learn English, sings in Bambara, Peuhl, Soninke, Wolof and French, and plays Tama (a traditional Talking Drum), Guitar, Djembe, and Doun Doun.
His new album, ‘AFRIKAA’, is now completed and awaiting duplication and distribution. !ts three song promotional CD is currently being aired on French and West African Radio, while his popular video clip of its title song, ‘AFRIKAA’, is being broadcast to great effect on Senegalese and Malian television and throughout Europe via the AFRICABLE Network. His second video clip, from the album, ‘OOYI-LELE’, is also extremely popular, being regularly aired to great acclaim throughout Mali and Senegal on their respective TOP ETOILE programmes and similarly transmitted to Europe. He performed, to universal acclaim, in 2010’s THE AFRICA SHOW, filmed for television in Paris and broadcast throughout Europe, as well as into Africa on the AFRICABLE Network.
He was chosen to perform a solo concert for France’s Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, on 8 November 2010 and to work with the Conservatoire du musique de Sarcelles from February 2011.
He headlined his CONCERT DEDICACE in April 2011.
His promotional videos are in Mali's Top 15 and the crew of its Top Etoile programme travelled to Paris and interviewed him and filmed him performing live in May 2011.
SEKOUBA can currently be found on the internet at:
http://sekouba_diallo.mondomix.com/fr/video1978.htm
http://fr-fr.facebook.com/pages/Sekouba-Diallo/141595899194798 and
http://seko
Links
