Trio Da Kali to Perform at Brandeis University, 3/1

Brandeis University's MusicUnites US World Music Series presents Trio Da Kali, three outstanding musicians from the Mande griot culture of southern Mali, in concert on March 1, 2014 at 8:00 pm in the Slosberg Recital Hall. Brought together for the first time at the BBC Proms in London in 2013, the trio combines the deep, vibrant voice of Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté, daughter of legendary singer Kassé Mady Diabaté, the dazzling virtuoso balafon playing of Fodé Lassana Diabaté (Symmetric Orchestra, AfroCubism), and Mamadou Kouyaté providing brilliant bass lines in the tradition of his father, ngoni maestro Bassekou Kouyaté.

The griot tradition - an early ancestor of the blues - is one of Africa's most subtle and sublime musics. The outstanding Trio Da Kali brings a fresh, contemporary and creative sensibility to the Mande griot repertoire taking us back to the roots of this grand tradition, undoubtedly one of the African continent's finest.

Tickets are $20/ $15/$5 for students. Brandeis Tickets: 781-736-3400 or online at brandeis. edu/tickets.

West African culture, with its roots in the ancient art of musical storytelling and praise-singing, will be fully explored and celebrated during in a weeklong residency, February 25 - March 1, with Trio Da Kali. As urban living, political upheaval, globalization, and a lack of institutional support for music are impacting the Mande griots, Trio de Kali is preserving, revitalizing, and sharing their verbal and musical performance arts.

Presented in partnership with the Aga Khan Music Initiative, Brandeis University invites the general public to join the musicians for open classes, workshops and performances, guided by ethnomusicologist and residency curator Lucy Durán from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. A free informal concert will be presented on Wednesday, February 26 from 12:10-12:50 in the Mandel Center Atrium at Brandeis. And, on Friday, Feb 28, the musicians will be visiting Waltham High School.

For a complete schedule of events, visit http://www.musicunitesus.info/schedule-spring2014.html

Trio Da Kali consists of three musicians from the Mande culture of Mali, who come from a long line of distinguished griots (hereditary musical artisans). Long-term collaborators, the artists aim to bring to the forefront neglected repertoires and performance styles. An original combination of voice, bass ngoni, and balafon, the trio takes their name from one of the oldest songs in the griot repertoire, an acapella praise song that recalls the role of the griots as advisors to Mali's pre-colonial rulers. "Da Kali" means "to swear an oath" and represents the griots' pledge to their art.

Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté grew up in Kela, a small village considered the heart of the Mande griot tradition, and was trained by her great-aunt, Sira Mory Diabaté, Mali's most celebrated female singer since independence. Her father, Kassé Mady Diabaté, a major figure on the Malian music scene for four decades, has passed his talent and heritage on to his daughter.

Hawa Kassé Mady (whose soaring, rounded vibrato voice has been compared to Mahalia Jackson) has only just begun to perform outside Mali, as a result of the Aga Khan Music Initiative-sponsored collaboration of Trio de Kali with the Kronos Quartet. Locally, in Bamako where she lives, she is in high demand at the lively wedding parties that take place in the streets and that are an important way for griots to update and draw new audiences into their musical traditions.

Mamadou Kouyaté is a member of his father, ngoni virtuoso Bassekou Kouyaté's band, Ngoniba, who were nominated for a Grammy in 2009. In his early 20s, Mamadou plays with many of Mali's top young musicians in Bamako in hip-hop, reggae, and blues styles. His family has brought the ancient stringed instrument, the ngoni, into the 21st century, reconnecting it with the banjo and with blues.

Fodé Lassana Diabaté, the group's leader, is a virtuoso balafon player. Originally from Guinea, he moved to Mali in his late teens in the early 90s. He has been at the cusp of musical innovation in Mali since then, working with Taj Mahal, Salif Keita, Toumani Diabaté, Dee Dee Bridgwater, and many others. Few can match his lyricism and virtuosity, and the resonant sound of the rosewood keys of his 22-key balafon.