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Mory Kanté was born in 1950 in Albadania near Kissidougou in Guinea. Being born into the Kanté family Kanté is part of a long lineage of Griots whose musical tradition dates back to the 13th Century. His mother, Fatouma Kamissoko, was of Malian origin and it was her father, Jali Mory Sanda Kamissoko, who baptized his grandson by his own name.
Kanté began his early musical education with his father El Hadj Djelifode who was leader of the Griots of Kissidougou. Kanté started off learning the Balafon, the symbolic instrument of the Kanté family dating back to the reign of Sumaworo Kanté, king of the Sosso in the 13th century. Kanté was later to recount this history of the Balafon in a 25-minute long piece entitled “Exile of Sundiata” which was recorded in 1975 during the time when he was a member of the Bamako Rail Band.
As a teenager Kanté went to live in Mali’s capital Bamako with his aunt Manamba Kamissoko who was a Griot and a member of the Mali International Ensemble. Whilst in Bamako Kanté was able to explore the different styles of music that were coming into the country such as Congolese rumba, American and English popular music and Cuban mambo. By this time Kanté had also become a keen guitarist and was guitarist and singer for a group called the 'Apollos', named in reference to James Brown’s renowned “Live at the Apollo” recording.
Kanté was later spotted by saxophonist and conductor of the infamous Malian Rail Band of which Salif Keita was then member. Kanté joined the band as a guitarist and balafonist, but when Keita left in 1973 he took up the position of vocalist.
Whilst in Bamako Kanté discovered the Kora and taught himself how to play. Following the Rail Band’s tour of West Africa Kanté was awarded the Voix d’Or (Golden Voice) trophy in Nigeria in 1976.
After leaving the rail Band Kanté settled in Abidjan in 1978 where he was to develop his originality. At a time when many were using more modern instruments such as guitars and keyboards Kanté wanted traditional instruments and he formed an ensemble comprising of Balafon, Djembe, Kora and Bolon which performed arrangements of international hits.
The growing reputation of Kanté reached a new level when he directed the Mande Ballet in 1982 which comprised of 75 traditional and modern artists on the stage of the French cultural centre in Abidjan. After moving to France in 1984 his talents on the electric Kora won him audiences far and wide. His critically acclaimed album “Ten Kola Nuts” was nominated for the French Victories De La Musique in 1986. This led to Kanté touring Europe, North Africa, Mali, Senegal, the USA and more.
In 1987 Kanté re-recorded his song 'Yéké Yéké' which he had originally recorded in a home-made style for his 1984 album 'Mory Kanté In Paris'. This new version (which featured on his album Akwaba Beach) caused sales to rocket to more than a million singles and half a million albums, and it reached the top spot on the Pan-European charts in Billboard Magazine (USA) in 1988.
In 1990 Kanté represented France in the United States alongside Khaled on a huge stage in the heart of Central Park with an audience of thousands, and later that year he had the chance to go on stage at the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem. On top of that his album Touma (The Moment) achieved gold status in France.
In 1991 Kanté was commissioned to present his Symphony of Guinea (to be performed by 130 Griots) for the inaugural ceremony for the Grande Arche de la Défance in Paris. This offered him the chance to explore an idea that he had dreamed of for many years – to create in Africa an important musical city for the promotion of Mande Culture. The name he had for this was ‘Nongo Village’. As a starting point Kanté built a studio on land he had bought in the area of Conakry. Here he recorded his new album Nongo Village which was released in 1993. Following this he toured Europe and Canada and was awarded the Griot d’Or in Paris and the Prix Kilimandjaro by the Franco-African radio station in France, Africa No.1.
Whilst Kanté continued his touring across the world, including an appearance at WOMAD, his ‘Nongo Village’ project began to take shape in Conakry, and the local neighbourhood population were soon to baptize the area “Mory Kanté a”. Kanté explains that “I want to help to industrialise African music and culture through this project. It will include a major music school where traditional instruments will be taught...there will be a show business agency, three recording studios, and an audiovisual studio where artistic and cultural programs can be created.”
In 2000 Leonardo Di Caprio called upon Kanté for the musical track of his film ‘The Beach’ which includes a remix on Yéké Yéké.
In 2002, to promote his new album Tamala, Kanté began a 48-show tour which covered fifteen European countries as well as South Africa and Morocco. 2004 saw the release of Sabou which offered a more acoustic sound, representing both contemporary and traditional modes of interpretation.
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