Famoudou Konaté

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Famoudou Konaté

Famadou Konaté teaching at a workshop
Born 1940
Guinea

Famoudou Konaté is a Malinké master drummer from Guinea. Famoudou Konaté is a world-renowned virtuoso of the djembe drum and its orchestra. One of only a handful of initiated masters of the Malinké drumming tradition, Famoudou is universally respected as one of the world’s premiere djembe master drummers. He has dedicated his life to performing and preserving the music of his people, helping to elevate the djembe orchestra from its traditional roots to worldwide popularity.

Famoudou was born in 1940 near Sangbaralla, a village in the Hamana region of Upper Guinea, the Malinké heartland and the birthplace of the dundunba family of rhythms. A percussive prodigy, he was drumming in community festivals at the age of eight and was soon in demand as a djembefola across the region. From 1959 to 1985, Famoudou was the lead djembe soloist for Les Ballets Africains de la République de Guinée, touring the world and performing with astounding virtuosity. During this time, Famoudou himself created many of the musical arrangements now common in West African performance groups worldwide.

In 1986, Konaté began his independent teaching career in Europe, teaching and performing with the Famoudou Konaté Ensemble, formed and managed by the legendary drumming duo from Berlin, "Djembe Tubabu" (Silvia Kronewald and Paul Engel). In the year 2000, Konaté was invited to the United States for the first time as an independent artist by the Chicago Djembe Project.[1] Today, Konaté teaches and performs annually throughout Europe, Japan, Israel, North America and West Africa, instilling a generation of non-African drummers with an extraordinary level of training. In 1996, he received an honorary professorship in Didactics of African Musical Practice from the University of the Arts Berlin.[2] He has produced eight CDs, including his most recent release, Hamana Namun.

Films

  • Laurent Chevallier (director), Famoudou Konaté (himself) (1991). "Djembefola".
  • Laurent Chevallier (director), Famoudou Konaté (himself) (1998). "Mögöbalu".

Discography

  • 1982 - Live in Stuttgart. (Bootleg recording).
  • 1991 - Rhythmen Der Malinke. Museum Collection Berlin: CD 18.
  • 1997 - Rhythms and Songs from Guinea. Lugert Verlag. (Companion CD to Rhythms and Songs from Guinea. ISBN 3-89760-150-8.)
  • 1998 - Guinée: Percussions et Chants Malinké. Musique du Monde, Buda Musique.
  • 2001 - Hamana Föli Kan. Buda Musique.
  • 2003 - Guinée: Percussions et Chants Malinké Volume 2. Musique du Monde, Buda Musique.
  • 2004 - Hamana Mandenkönö. TARIKUmusique.
  • 2008 - Hamana Namun. TARIKUmusique.

References

  1. ↑ "FKUSA: Famoudou Konate Career Chronology". Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012. 
  2. ↑ Friedberg, Lilian, ed. (December 2001). "Rare German Radio Interviews with Famoudou Konate". Percussive Notes (Indianapolis) 39 (6). Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012. 

External links

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