David Dalle
Thursday May 31st, 2018 with David Dalle
Farewell to the greatest of the great Mandé singers, Kassé Mady Diabaté. Kayhan Kalhor III

"when a griot dies, a whole library burns to the ground" - Amadou Hampate Ba Kassé Mady Diabaté was born in 1949 in the heart of the Manding region of Mali in the town of Kela, home to generations of renowned singers. His family were farmers, but were also part of generations of djelis, guardians of orally transmitted knowledge and lore dating back centuries. As a young boy, people around him already heard hints of his famed great-grandfather Binto Fama Diabaté, who was also known as Kassé Mady. He quickly became in demand singing at weddings and other ceremonies in surrounding villages. As a young man he became a lead singer in state-sponsored bands, most importantly National Badema, a common feature amongst West African nations in the fevered nationalism and enthusiasm which followed independence, and which launched many careers of West Africa's greatest musicians and singers. Kassé Mady's voice became one of the most well-known and prominent within Mali, he was a master of all the old songs as well as newer popular songs. In 1989 the great Senegalese music producer Ibrahima Sylla produced two solo albums by Kassé Mady: Fode and Kela. Fode was a contemporary Manding pop fusion album, Kela was an incredible traditional album. Both were extremely successful, and Kassé Mady moved to Paris to try and widen his career following his compatriot Salif Keita (also born in 1949). Unfortunately (though perhaps it was a blessing), he did not achieve the same level of success, and he returned to Mali. Back in Mali he recorded several more fabulous solo albums, and also appeared as a guest on several albums by instrumentalists Toumani Diabaté and Bassekou Kouyaté, both of whom (particularly the former) have created stellar international careers. (Absolutely no disrespect intended to Toumani or Bassekou, but it is interesting that this upended the traditional hierarchy, where the singer has the star billing and the kora and ngoni players role is to accompany the singer). Kassé Mady also took part in Ibrahima Sylla's incredible Mandekalou project, two albums bringing together some of the biggest stars of Mande music including Bako Dagnon, Kandia Kouyaté, Karfale Kante, Djelimady Tounkara and others. Kassé Mady Diabaté suffered a stroke in March, and did not recover, he died in Bamako on May 24th aged 69. Even though he was not widely known outside of Mali, everyone in Mali knew his beautiful, plaintive voice, which earned him his nickname Kassé (weeping). He was one of the very greatest singers in one of Africa's greatest and richest musical traditions. A national treasure, the world is much poorer for his loss.