Mali in New York
With Makane Kouyaté, Malian griot and master drummer who performed with Salif Keita.
A saxophonist between Harlem and Bamako.
Tenor saxophonist. Twenty years in New York’s West African scene with Makane Kouyaté, Yacouba Sissoko and Abou Dembélé; co-founder of the New York Jazz Workshop; currently with DafinaRoots. Available for West African, Afrobeat and jazz dates, as a sideman or with the band.
- Shrine World Music Venue, New York 10:00 PM
- Shrine World Music Venue, New York 10:00 PM
- Silvana, New York 10:00 PM
All dates at dafinarootsband.com
African music.
In 1995 I spent time with Fela Kuti at the Kalakuta Republic in Lagos. That is where I fell in love with African music, and where I first came to know the Kuti family. His youngest son Seun was a boy then, already on stage with his father’s band, Egypt 80. My friend Michele Avantario and I brought him a Game Boy. Today Seun leads Egypt 80 himself, and we still meet when he plays New York.
For more than 20 years I have played tenor saxophone in New York’s West African music community. I have performed with Makane Kouyaté, Yacouba Sissoko, Yacouba Diabaté, Moussa Dramé and Abou Dembélé, at S.O.B.’s, Zinc Bar, Barbès, Nublu, Shrine and Silvana. Those years have also given me the chance to spend time with artists I admire, among them the Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara.
Today I play with DafinaRoots, the band of Mamoudou Konaté Simbo, which joins West African traditions with jazz. dafinarootsband.com →
Recordings.
Wednesdays at Boom
Il Collettivo, a New York jazz quintet, with me on tenor saxophone.
The band of Mamoudou Konaté Simbo, joining West African traditions with jazz.
Jazz roots.
Through my father-in-law, broadcaster Art Rust Jr., I met Sonny Rollins and studied with Clifford Jordan. Working at Roberto’s Winds, the saxophone shop, I came to know Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Branford Marsalis, Lou Donaldson and Lew Tabackin, and met Marc Mommaas, my partner at the New York Jazz Workshop. I still practice two hours a day.
