Abdolaye Diabate

Abdolaye Diabate (singer/ guitarist/drummer) hails from one of the most distinguished Jali families from Mali. In the 1970s he performed with the Tentemba Jazz Band and the Koule Star Band of Kouchala and appeared with Mory Kante and Salif Keita, among others. In 1976, he moved to the Ivory Coast, where he founded his own twelve-piece band Super Manden, recorded the album, Wahabia-Ke Daschi, and performed throughout the 1980s. He joined Souleymane Koli’s Ensemble Koteba in 1992 and later performed with Les Trois Gos during their North American tour. Since coming to the United States in the 1990s he has performed regularly with musicians on the New York African music scene. He is the featured artist in the Smithsonian recording Badenya. Abdoulaye Diabate was the featured artist of the prestigious Paul Winter Solstice at the Cathedral of St. John Divine in New York. He has performed regularly with Kewulay Kamara since 1999.