Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: Djeli Fodé Kouyaté

Frank Bessem's
Musiques d'Afrique:

Djeli Fodé Kouyaté
(Guinée)

Musiques d'Afrique
Musiques de Guinée

Djeli Fodé Kouyaté (not to be confounded with Malian singer and kora player, the late Fodé Kouyaté) is a nephew of Mory Kanté. Son of Mama Kanté and Djelyden Kabinet Kouyaté, he is born a griot.

Le djeli de Kissifaramaya, as he is called, is known for his songs addressing popular issues of Guinean life. More recently, he has been active in the cause of the refugee camps in the South-East of his country, where 100,000s refugees from neighbouring Sierra Leone live under precarious conditions. His conscience awakening lyrics and constant production of albums lead to his nomination of honorary ambassador of Afrique-Aide-Afrique by the Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade.

In Guinea, he is seen as one of the biggest contemporary singers. Until now, he was hardly known outside of Guinea, but this will change soon. Already, he was one of the showcases of the Nuits d'Afrique Festival in Montréal, Canada in July 2002. In addition, two albums with older songs became available on CD since 2002.

Born: 1964, in Kissifaramaya.
Style: mandingo music.

Discography:

Title	Year	Label	Remarks
Baraka Dèn	2008	Amacif Productions	Cassette
Sorombaya	2004	Syllart Production	CD (with different track list than the cassette)
Sorombaya	2004	CDS Productions	Cassette
Adame Nyingui	2002	Syllart / CDS Productions KSK 2006	Reissue on CD
Gnalemba	2002	Amacif Productions BGDA 0208	Cassette
First	2000	Syllart SYLAF 96119	CD with songs from Sagesse and Salatou
Adame Nyingui	2000	CDS Productions	Cassette
Sagesse	1998	local cassette production
Kouroussaka	1997	CDS Productions DK72	Cassette
Salatou	1995	local cassette production