Songoyi

Born into a family of griots, Samba diabaté learnt the balafon at a young age before he was introduced him to the art of the guitar and jeli n’goni. He is now one of the most sought-after guitarists on the Malian scene. For the Swiss multi-instrumentalist and world-music specialist Vincent Zanetti, the Malian Mande is his land of adoption. “In 2011, when we created our duo and repertoire, Samba and myself called it ‘Kala Jula’ (the nomadic archer) as a tribute to the ancestor of the Diabate griots. But a part of his byname was missing. Tradition has added the qualificative 'sangoyi' (‘ardent’) –a direct reference to the passionate and intense character of his ancestor’s speech.“