ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Habib Koite

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HABIB KOITE performs on the Lakeside stage on Saturday May 10th @ 600pm EST. (See full schedule HERE)

THE STORY: Malian guitarist HABIB KOITE is one of Africa’s most popular and recognized musicians. Habib Koité was born in 1958 in Thiès, a Senegalese town situated on the railway line connecting Dakar to Niger, where his father worked on theconstruction of the tracks. Six months after his birth, the Koité family returned to the regional capital of west Mali, Kayes, and then to Bamako. Habib comes from a noble line of Khassonké griots, traditional troubadors who provide wit, wisdom and musical entertainment at social gatherings and special events. Habib grew up surrounded by seventeen brothers and sisters, and developed his unique guitar style accompanying his griot mother. He inherited his passion for music from his paternal grandfather who played the kamele n’goni, a traditional four-stringed instrument associated with hunters from theWassolou region of Mali. "Nobody really taught me to sing or to play the guitar," explains Habib, "I watched my parents, and it washed off on me."

Habib is a perfectionist, and spends a great deal of time composing and arranging his material. Recorded in Mali, Belgium and Vermont, his latest release...AFRIKA...finds Habib exploring new musical directions. The overarching theme of Afriki, which means “Africa” in the Malian Bambara language, is about the strengths and challenges of the African continent. “People here in Africa are willing to risk death trying to leave for Europe or the USA, but they are not willing to take that risk staying to develop something here in Africa,” says Habib. “Life can be really good or really bad wherever you live. People need to understand that. Even though Mali is poor, we still have good quality of life: You can walk outside and smile and someone will smile back. I have thought about it a lot, and I am not sure if poor countries have a worse quality of life.”


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