Trio Da Kali is a

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 ...

music group 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 ...

constituted of three members: Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté (vocals), Lassana Diabaté (

balafon The balafon (pronounced , or, by analogy with ''xylophone'' etc., ) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé peoples, Mandé, Bwaba Bobo people, Bobo, Senufo people, Seno ...

) and Mamadou Kouyaté ( ngoni). Hawa is the daughter of a

Kassé Mady Diabaté. The latter is the son of the ngoni master

Bassekou Kouyate Bassekou Kouyate (born 1966) is a musician from Mali. His band is known as Ngoni ba. Life and career He was born into the Kouyate family in Garana, Barouéli Cercle, 60 kilometres from Ségou, in 1966.Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique: At t ...

. Da Kali means 'to give a pledge' – in this case to their musical heritage, that of the Mande (hereditary lineages) which dates back to the time of Sunjata Keita, founder of the great Mali empire in the early 13th century. The trio collaborated with the American string quartet

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

and they recorded an award-winning album, ''Ladilikan'' (2017, World Circuit). The album includes arrangements of two tracks by American gospel singer

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel music, gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was ...

, as well as important pieces from the Mande repertoire such as "Sunjata" and the love song "Tita". The two groups toured together in many cities across the world. The song 'Demba by Tsha ft. Trio Da Kali is featured in the FIFA22 soundtrac

References

Malian musical groups {{Africa-band-stub