Kaabi Kouyaté will unveil his new album, “Tribute to Kandia,” upon its release on June 27, 2025, on Buda Musique / Socadisc.
Sory Kandia Kouyaté (1933-1977) was “The Voice” of independent Guinea. A descendant of Balla Fasséké Kouyaté, the illustrious djeli (custodian of a people’s oral tradition) of Soundiata Keïta, founder of the Mandingo Empire, he was introduced to music (in particular the ngoni) and the complex Mandingo genealogy by his learned father. His gifts astonished the royal court of Mamou, which he joined at a very early age. “
It is to this baobab of Guinean song that one of his sons, Kabiné Kandia Kouyaté, aka Kaabi, dedicates this tribute. The project was prompted by director Laurent Chevallier, who made “La Trace de Kandia”, a film that won an award from the Académie Charles Cros in 2015, in which Kaabi returned to Guinea in his father’s footsteps to discover the places and witnesses of his legend.
Through its choice of repertoire, this tribute recounts the mental geography of Sory Kandia Kouyaté and his place in the Mandinka griot tradition of epic song. Contemporary heritage: this was the goal set for himself by Sory Kandia Kouyaté. Kaabi worked in the same spirit, admitting that he needed time to understand the scope of such a legacy.
On the strength of this background, he has surrounded himself with a dedicated team: loyalists such as Badje Tounkara (ngoni), Ballaké Sissoko (kora) and Lansine Kouyaté (balafon), as well as guests who know that Mandinka music can only be approached with tact and humility: guests such as Jean-Philippe Rykiel, well known to African musicians and whose piano has taken up residence in the savannah. The presence of singer Aminata Camara, who was his father’s backing vocalist, symbolises a passing of the torch. Yet the most fascinating thing about this album is Kaabi’s voice, whose timbre, modulations and inflections, and the felicity of his DNA, echo so hauntingly those of Guinea’s most famous griot.
From Frank Tenaille (translation: Roger Surridge)
