Mamady keita biography of christopher

Guinean drummer (1950–2021)

For the politician of the First Republic of Guinea, see Mamadi Keïta.

Mamady Keïta^[a] (August 1950^[1] – 21 June 2021^[2]) was a drummer from the West African nation of Guinea.

He specialized in the djembe.

Mamady keita biography of christopher

He was also the founder of the Tam Tam Mandingue school of drumming. He was a member of the Manding ethnic group.

Early life

Keïta was born in the small village of Balandougou, Guinea, in the northeastern prefecture of Siguiri, near the border of Mali.

Keïta was a direct descendant of the king Sundiata Keita.^[3] By the age of five, he had developed his own technique of tone, slap, bass and learned the rhythms of his village and was playing Djembe in all of the ceremonies, celebrations and festivals.

Technically, his actual initiation to the djembe started at the early age of seven, under Karinkadjan Kondé, elder masterdjembefola of Balandugu, who initiated him to the secrets of the dj