We have just learned from a family source, the very talented multi-instrumentalist artist Mama Diabaté died this Tuesday morning in a hospital center following a long illness.
Commonly called Biche du Manding, Mama Diabaté of Guinean nationality was born in Bagna in the Faranah region, 448 kilometers from Conakry.
In 1970 Mama Diabaté began playing music and acquired the nickname Sankaran Kono, an expression in the Sankaran language which means bird in French.
Mama Diabaté is one of the rare female musicians who knows how to play 7 instruments, 6 of which are traditional: bolon, kora, doundoun, dan, balafon, djembe and guitar.
A family of musicians
Niece of the immense singer, balafonist and former director of the Ensemble Instrumental de Guinée, El’Hadj Djéli Fodé Diabaté, and cousin of Sékou “Bembeya” Diabaté known as “Diamond Fingers”, Sona Diabaté and Sayon Diabaté, Mama Diabaté begins in music in 1970. She will perform numerous concerts in various countries in Africa, Europe and the United States, and will record several discs, including “Dabanko”, “Koffi cola nâ y” and “La Biche du Manding” (1993), “Nambiyo” (1994), “N’na niwalé” (1995) and “A Dèdyn (La Biche du Manding)” (2003).
Sam Bantignel Barry
