Bala
Virtuoso balafón musician Fodé Lassana Diabaté in
collaboration with The Centre for Sound Communities
Bala
Virtuoso balafón musician Fodé Lassana Diabaté in
collaboration with The Centre for Sound Communities
LISTEN TO BALA
1. Cape Breton / 2. Tokonou / 3. Samuel / 4. The Farmer's Tune / 5. Korogba/Sossofoli / 6. Nana Triban / 7. Kanou / 8. Hommage à Kassé Mady / 09. Sirfou / 10. Kaira / 11. The Jala Tree / 12. Aissata hommage à maman / 13. Mariama Siré
ABOUT THE ALBUM
On this album, Lassana is accompanied on balafón by Illya Kierkosz, who prefers to describe himself as a vocalist, although he is also a multi-instrumentalist trained as a fiddler, pianist, and drummer. Born in 1997 in Toronto, ON, Illya met Lassana in 2014, on Lassana’s first visit to Cape Breton. Illya began taking lessons on balafón from Lassana and it wasn’t long before his musical abilities enabled him to participate in jam sessions.
LASSANA DIABATÉ
Fodé Lassana Diabaté, better known as Lassana Diabaté, is an internationally acclaimed musician, virtuoso balafón (22-key xylophone) player, artist-researcher, composer, culture bearer, and balafón maker, who comes from a well-known griot family of balafón masters in Guinea.