Bako Dagnon

Bako Dagnon
Born 1948[1] or 1953[2]
Golobladji,[1]  Mali
Died July 7, 2015(2015-07-07)
Bamako,  Mali
Occupation Griot, singer
Years active 1966–2015

Bako Dagnon (1948[1] or 1953[2] – 7 July 2015) was a Malian griot singer.[3] She is considered to be a popular representative of Mandinka culture and has released several records in local languages.[1][4][5]

Early life

Bako Dagnon was born in the little village of Golobladji, around 20 kilometers away from Kita in a family of griots and n'goni players.[6] The origins of her family can be traced back to the time of Sundiata Keita. In her birth village, she learned the songs from Ségou from her grandmother and those from Guinea from her mother, while her grandfather who had fought with Samori Ture taught her battlefields songs.[7]

When her mother died when Bako Dagnon was seven years old, her father gave her in the care of the childless wife of a griot in Kita.[7] She was badly treated and left her adoption family later on to study the stories of the Mandinka Empire before its colonisation (the "tariku") with the grand Mandinka griot Kele Monson Diabate.[7]

Career

First success

In 1966, Bako Dagnon gave her first public concert in Kita during the local edition of the "Youth Week" (Semaine de la Jeunesse). This event had been created by the first president Modibo Keïta to "boost the cultural traditions of Mali".[6] She performed a Fulani song in Bambara, Yirijanko Le, for which she won an award that allowed her to participate at the regional edition of the "Youth Week" of Kayes Region the following year. There she won again and performed at the national competition, the Bamako Biennale.[8] Following theses successes she performed regularly with the Regional Orchestra of Kita. In Bamako, she sang on weddings and gained popularity.[7]

Work with the Ensemble Instrumental National

On demand of the Minister of Arts, Sports and Culture of the time, in 1974,[8] Bako Dagnon joined Mali's National Instrumental Ensemble (Ensemble Instrumental National or EIN) which had been established shortly after the declaration of independence in 1961. The EIN was the most prestigious music ensemble in the country and consisted of about forty of the best Malian musicians. Although Bako Dagnon didn't live in Bamako but in Kita with her husband and children, she regularly performed with the EIN. She also joined the ensemble on a concert tour in Korea and China, where she played for Mao.[7] Her performances led to an increase of her own reputation and of that of the ensemble. She gained notoriety in the whole of Mali with the song Tiga Monyonko (meaning "while pealing peanuts") which remains one of her most popular songs.[1]

Career without the EIN

It was only in 1980 that the singer chose to move to Bamako with her children.[1] After a serious road accident, Bako Dagnon decided to leave the National Instrumental Ensemble of Mali which at the time was also suffering from a lack of funding and the omnipresent government corruption.[2][7] In 1990, she was offered a record deal by an Indian music producer from Liberia and registered her first cassette record. After the recording of a second cassette, the production company disappeared in the midst of the First Liberian Civil War.[9]

In the 1990s, Bako Dagnon continued giving public and private concerts.[10] She did no recordings until the beginning of the 2000s when she also managed in gaining popularity outside of Mali. She participated on the albums Mandekalou (2004) and Mandekalou II (2006) of the Mandika griot collective of the same name of Ibrahima Sylla.[11] She also appeared on the song Donso Ke on the album Electro Bamako (2006) by Marc Minelli.[8] Her first international solo album, Titati, was again produced by Ibrahima Sylla and appeared on his label Syllart Records in 2007. François Bréant was the musical director.[12]

Sidiba, her seventh album, was released two years later.[13] The song Le guide de la révolution was the only song in French and was released as a single.

On 14 January 2009, Bako Dagnon was made a knight of the National Order of Mali.[14]

Death

The singer died on 7 July 2015 at around six in the morning at the Hospital of Point-G in Bamako after a long illness.[3] Her funeral was organised the following day in the neighbourhood Hamdallaye ACI 2000 where she had been living. It took place in the presence of numerous public figures, including members of the government and Keïta Aminata Maïga, the First Lady of Mali.[14]

Discography (incomplete)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Myre, Sabrina (7 July 2015). "Bako Dagnon, l’une des plus grandes voix du Mali, s’est éteinte". Jeune Afrique (in French). Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Doumbia, Y.; L'Essor (8 July 2015). "Mali : Décès de Bako Dagnon : LA GRANDE VOIX DE LA TRADITION" (in French). maliactu.net. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 Diakité, A. (7 July 2015). "Mort de l’artiste Bako Dagnon : un autre coup dur pour le président IBK" (in French). malijet.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  4. ↑ Duran, Lucy (7 July 2015). "Le monde des artistes attristé : Bako Dagnon tire sa révérence" (in French). maliweb.net. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Lespiaux, Sophie. "Bako Dagnon (Biographie)" (in French). music-story.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Mort de Bako Dagnon, chanteuse et mémoire de la culture malienne" (in French). Radio France Internationale. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Duran, Lucy (9 July 2015). "Biography of Bako Dagnon" (in French). accent-presse.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 Bessem, Frank (April 2008). "Bako Dagnon (Mali)". musiques-afrique.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Produktinfo: Bako Dagnon: Sidiba" (in German). JPC. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Review Sidiba". afropop.org. 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Discography Mandekalou". Discogs. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  12. ↑ Lavaine, Bertrand (3 December 2007). "Chronique album: Bako Dagnon" (in French). Radio France internationale. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  13. ↑ Freeman, Phil. "AllMusic Review Sidiba" (in French). AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  14. 1 2 Coulibaly, Diango (14 July 2015). "Mali : Obsèques de Bako Dagnon L’hommage de la nation à la mémoire vivante d’une culture ancestrale" (in French). MaliActu. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
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