Abdoulaye Kouyate

Originally from Guinea Conakry, now living in Paris, Abdoulaye is part of the Mandingo griot castes.

From a very young age he learned the guitar and the kora with his father Sékou Kouyaté, a respected griot, musician and conductor of Miriam Makeba's orchestra. While accompanying him, Abdoulaye met the great musicians of the country, such as Momo Wandel, Sekouba Bambino, Manfila Kanté, Doura Barry, who would influence his musical style.

Then for 8 years, he traveled the world with the Circus Baobab troupe, the first circus in West Africa, whose story is told in an eponymous documentary directed by Laurent Chevalier.

His music is nourished by the traditional Mandingo repertoire and various influences such as jazz, funk, reggae, West Indian biguine or bossa nova. Sung in Soussou and French, his songs are inspired in turn by his romantic youth in Conakry or the life lessons learned in the "jungle" of Europe.

Abdoulaye joins us with his regular band in support of his first album “Fenfanyi” which has been widely, and warmly, received. The album mixes ancestral traditions with modern sounds that are at times rhythmic and warm and at other times poetic and refined but above all original, consolidating his place among the finest musicians of his generation.