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Five Questions for Habib Koité
You come from a long line of troubadours and entertainers. What impact do your family traditions have on your music?
Effectively, I grew up in a family of musicians. My grand-father was an n’goni player, my father a guitar & flute player and my mother was a singer in the traditional events (birth, funeral, wedding etc...). So I was surrounded by music in my daily life. That means I began to practice music with the instruments I found at home (guitar and flute). I learned music little by little and I got a minimum a musical basis before I later studied music at school.
You were originally going to school to become an engineer, but it was your uncle who convinced you to go into music. What did he say to make you change career paths?
In fact, one of my uncles wanted to help me become an engineer. He was not informed of my natural desire to play music and, with my parents, was enthusiast to see me in a school which could award me a "real certificate." But, another uncle, involved in the Ministry of Education, who saw and appreciated my talents as musician, pushed me to attend a school for music. Although, at the time I didn’t know there was a school for music in Bamako. But I was often, in secret, playing music with small orchestras. My family was not aware of this, because they didn’t want to see me as a musician, preferring me to take on more serious studies. That’s why this Uncle who saw my passion for music pushed me (and pushed my parents to accept) my studies at the School of Music Bamako (INA). He made the good choice for me!
What makes you and Bamada stand out from other musicians?
We are a band which has had the same musicians for a long time ago, between 12 to 20 years, depending on the person. Maybe it’s not an important, but typical point for a band touring around the world for so many years. Another particularity is our style of music. In fact, we try to search and to collect traditional rhythms of Mali. I propose music based on those traditions, but with real personal arrangements, keeping in mind to respect the identity of the traditional rhythms. And this music is played by modern acoustic instruments (guitar, bass guitar, and drum) and traditional instruments as well (balafon, n’goni, and calabash).
What can the audience at SOPAC expect to hear from you?
The band had toured in USA for the past ten years. So the fans will come to listen to some tracks they already know and they would like listen to again with pleasure. We will of course perform new arrangements of the songs off our latest album, Afriki. And I will also perform more intimate, solo pieces.
What will you do before your performance here in New Jersey?
Some concert in Europe, in Africa (Senegal and Mali). And of course, we will rehearse before the European and US tours to give to the public some wonderful shows.
See Habib Koite & Bamada at 8pm, Friday, March 19, 2010.
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