Mamady Keïta

For the politician of the First Republic of Guinea, see Mamadi Keïta.
Mamady Keïta
Born August 1950
Balandougou, Guinea
Residence Monterrey, Mexico
Nationality Guinean
Occupation Djembefola

Mamady Keïta (surname sometimes also spelled Keita; born August 1950 in Balandougou, Siguiri Prefecture, Kankan Region, Guinea) is a master drummer from the West African nation of Guinea. He specializes in the goblet-shaped hand drum called djembe. He is also the founder of the Tam Tam Mandingue school of drumming. He is a member of the Manding ethnic group.

Early life

Keïta was born in the small village of Balandougou, Guinea, in the northeastern prefecture of Siguiri, near the border of Mali. His initiation to the djembe started at the early age of seven, under Karinkadjan Kondé, elder master djembefola of Balandugu, who initiated him to the secrets of the djembe. Keïta was educated in the traditions of his village, learning the history and music of the Malinke people. At the age of twelve, he became a member of the first regional federal ballet of Siguiri after Balanka Sidiki, a recruiter for the group, came to Balandugu looking for performers.[1]

Career

At the time, Guinea was governed by Sékou Touré, who put special emphasis on Guinean culture through live performances and a system of local, regional, and national competitions that recruited the greatest artists of the land. During the National Festival in 1964, Keïta, then aged fourteen, along with fifty other percussionists and numerous other artists, was selected by Guinea's Minister of Culture to form Le Ballet National Djoliba (The Djoliba National Ballet), which was intended to serve as a showcase for Touré's revolution in Guinea.[2] After nine months of training, he was one of only five percussionists retained.[3]

He was appointed lead soloist of Ballet Djoliba in 1965 and, in 1979, became its artistic director. He stayed with Ballet Djoliba until 1986, when he joined Ballet Koteba in Côte d'Ivoire.

In 1988, Keïta moved to Belgium where he worked as a performer and teacher. In 1991, he opened his first school Tam Tam Mandingue percussion school in Brussels, to be followed by additional schools in Europe, the US, and Asia,[4] each run by a school director personally certified by Keïta for his/her playing skill and teaching abilities.[5]

Since then, Keîta has worked as a performer with his group Sewa Kan and recorded a number of CDs. He also teaches internationally, running international workshops in Europe, the US, Asia, and Australia, as well as an annual camp in Africa.[6] He has published a large body of djembe teaching materials on CD and DVD, as well as an instructional book.[1]

He resides in Monterrey, Mexico.

Discography

Films

Instructional videos

Instructional CDs

Instructional books

References

  1. 1 2 Billmeier, Uschi; Keïta, Mamady (2004) [First published 1999 as a three-language edition (English, German, and French), ISBN 3-927940-61-5]. A Life for the Djembé—Traditional Rhythms of the Malinké (5th ed.). Kirchhasel-Uhlstädt: Arun-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-935581-52-3.
  2. ↑ Flaig, Vera (2010). The Politics of Representation and Transmission in the Globalization of Guinea's Djembé (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). University of Michigan. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  3. ↑ Laurent Chevallier (director), Mamady Keïta (himself) (1991). "Djembefola". Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "TTM Schools & Teachers". Tam Tam Mandingue. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "Tam Tam Mandingue Teacher/Director Certification Process". Tam Tam Mandingue. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Kelly Pederson (producer) (2012). Messengers of Tradition (DVD). Tam Tam Mandingue. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.

External links

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