“Mamaya (15ième partie)” (1999) – Grand Papa Diabaté * Written by Kerfala Diabaté * CD: Guitar, Extra Dry * Label: Popular African Music
Kerfala “Grand Papa” Diabaté is the oldest of the four Guinean guitar-playing Diabaté brothers (who include Sekou, Sire and Abdoulaye, known collectively as the African Virtuoses). His high esteem as a traiblazing guitarist secured the instrument’s status as a standard component of Guinean music at the dawn of the country’s independence (1958). Grand Papa Diabaté wouldn’t record his first album, Guitar, Extra Dry, until 1999, though, when he was 63 years old. A CD collection of his brothers’ music (The Classic Guinean Guitar Group, most of it recorded in the early 1980s) saw widespread release in 2007. The vocalist on “Mamaya” is Sona Diabaté, who is the sister of Bembeya Jazz guitarist Sekou, but has no immediate relation to Grand Papa.