Balla Tounkara is a kora player and singer from

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. He was born in Mali into a family of ''

griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...

''s, who traditionally played music to the kings of the Malian Empire in their royal court. He started to learn the kora as a child. Tounkara has released many albums and plays both solo and with a group called Groupe Spirite. He moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1996 and now lives in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

References

Malian Kora players 20th-century Malian male singers Malian emigrants to the United States Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Malian male singers {{Africa-musician-stub