Mandé Sila: Habib Koité, Aly Keïta, Lamine Cissokho, Mama Koné

Musical virtuosos from Mali, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire join forces in Mandé Sila, a project that celebrates their shared cultural, linguistic, and musical heritage with enchanting melodies performed on traditional West African instruments.

The project is led by Malian musician Habib Koité. Out of a family of griots, he is a musician, keeper of oral histories, and ceremony official, known for his sharp intellect, wisdom, and distinctive guitar style that blends the diverse musical expressions of Mali and has made him a celebrated figure on the African music scene. He is joined by Senegalese kora player Lamine Cissokho and Ivorian balafon virtuoso Aly Keïta. Together, they form as the project Mandé Sila – a captivating musical endeavor that merges the legacies of all three artists into a shared celebration of West Africa’s languages, culture, music, and indeed, the region’s entire sonic identity.

Lamine Cissokho is also got griot lineage. With the stringed instrument kora, he has played traditional melodies from the Malinke people and woven them together with elements of jazz and Nordic folk. Aly Keïta, renowned worldwide for his balafon mastery, plays the wooden-keyed instrument akin to a xylophone in a way that bridges musical worlds: African rhythms, polyphony, and jazz influences come alive in his hands. On stage, the trio is joined by Malian percussionist Mama Kone. Together, they craft a mesmerizing sonic tapestry, a dialogue between the places and they each come from.