Kerfala Kanté

Kerfala Kante's history is longer than you might imagine. Born into a griot family in the Faranah region of central Guinea and coincidentally the same region in which Guinea's first president Sekou Toure was born, Kerfala joined the federal orchestra of that region, the Tropical Djoli Band, in 1980. His talent was soon spotted and in 1984 he was invited to join one of the great national orchestras, Balla et ses Balladins. Which he duly did. Unfortunately the times were against him and while the group didn't exactly disband neither, in 1984, did it thrive. On March 26th of that year Sekou Toure suddenly died and all the state-sponsored orchestras, together with the musicians they employed, were thrown into disarray as a new president seized power. But Kerfala stayed the course and with the help of Guinean radio was eventually able to release his first solo cassettes. Gradually building a reputation as one of Guinea's top male vocalists, the new millennium found his voice beautifully employed in the Sylla-produced 'Mandekalou'project, with further locally-released albums continuing under his own name until the most recent, 'Biyedi', recorded in Paris in 2011. Here, for one of his most relaxed and charming albums to date.