Lao Kouyaté

Lao Kouyaté
Singer, Kora player
Principal country concerned : Column : Music, Heritage

Lao Kouyaté was born in Thievallao in 1970, a little village of Casamance, in south Senegal.
Heir of the great name of the Kouyate and their Jeliw (griot) tradition, he's since his early childhood devoted to the study and the practice of the ancient knowledge, and he passionnately embraces the practice of the main Kouyate instrument: the Kora, while learning the traditional songs praising the greatness of the Kings of Manden. In 1987 he left his village and his family and went to Dakar, where he discovered many musical styles like the Mandingo Blues, french pop, Jazz, adding new colors to his own creations.
Soon, the 21 strings of his traditional kora weren't enough, so he created his own instrument, a kora with 44 strings, in order to adapt the ancient sounds to our contemporaneous times, because new times require new music according to Lao... Lao met and played with many great artists like Kade Diawara, Fatou Loebe or Abou Dioubadeh, until he left for Europe and met Tony Bowers.
Lao settles down in Italy and tours with "Mau Mau", Ana Oxa, Guido Bombardieri, and takes part to many important cultural events. Since 2011, Lao Kouyate lives in Toulouse (France) where he plays in all the local festivals like "Afrique à Muret", "Plein Sud" in Cozes, "Terre de Couleurs", or "Suq de Genova" in Italy. His compositions are inviting us to travel, a music where traditional mandingo accents meet the notes of jazz improvisations, sometimes bluesy or funky, he casts a spell on us with his beautyful and mighty voice, telling us to sit down quietly to listen to the ancient secrets...

Lao Kouyate displays 2 different shows: Solo or with his band.

Lao Solo: with his 44 strings kora, Lao takes us through a contemporaneous booklet mixing freely the total improvisation of jazz, with a touch of blues, with the traditional west african roots music.

Lao Kouyate and Fulama: quatuor created in 2011 in Toulouse, inspired by the diversity brought by the various musicians of the band: a well-done combination between a funky keyboard, a precise drum set following the Master without hesitation, a sober and discrete bass completing the alchemy of the musical flow. Lao's songs and notes are telling us about the ancient mandingo soul while he takes us for an eclectic ride, sometimes funk, sometimes jazz and even jazz-rock, the result of Lao Kouyate's adventures in Africa and Europe...

Music albums

1 files

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  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
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  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
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  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
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