Habib Koité

Habib Koité (Bambara: Habib Kuwate, born 1958 in Thiès, Senegal) is a solo singer, songwriter and guitarist, based in Mali. His band, Bamada, is a supergroup of West African musicians, which included Kélétigui Diabaté on balafon up until his death in 2012.

Musical style

Koité is known primarily for his unique approach to playing the guitar by tuning it on a pentatonic scale and playing on open strings as one would on a kamale n'goni. Other pieces of his music sound more like the blues or flamenco which are two styles he learned under Khalilou Traore.

Koité's vocal style is intimate and relaxed, emphasizing calm, moody singing rather than operatic technical prowess. Members of Bamada play talking drum, guitar, bass, drum set, harmonica, violin, calabash, and balafon. Koité composes and arranges all songs, singing in English, French, and Bambara.

History

Koité was born in 1958 to musical parents, from whom he learned instrumentation by watching and listening. He joined the Bamako National Institute of Arts and became a conductor in 1978 after only six months of playing. He graduated in 1982, and formed his band Bamada in 1988. The name "Bamada" is a nickname for residents of Mali's capital city Bamako, and the word roughly translates as "In the mouth of the crocodile." Other members of the band were friends of Koité's from childhood.