Hit Pick

Boubacar Diébaté was, literally, born for music. The native of Senegal, West Africa, is part of a family of griots -- traditional musicians who view music as the most important tool of communication and cultural preservation. Now he's a drummer and master player of the kora, a harplike instrument that...

By Laura Bond

March 7, 2002

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Boubacar Diébaté was, literally, born for music. The native of Senegal, West Africa, is part of a family of griots -- traditional musicians who view music as the most important tool of communication and cultural preservation. Now he's a drummer and master player of the kora, a harplike instrument that has been part of Senegalese life for hundreds of years. Yet rather than stick to the canon of traditional songs, Diébaté has fanned his playing out a bit, exploring folk music, reggae and Afro-pop along with sounds of the African antiquity -- a pursuit intensified by a move to Boulder, where he teaches West African musical studies at Naropa University. Now playing with a six-person band called Dialy Kounda, Diébaté plucks the kora alongside saxophonist Dexter Payne, djembe player and percussionist Ira Sweetwine and other local artists. Dialy Kounda celebrates the release of its first CD, Kembang, with a performance at Boulder's Trilogy on Saturday, March 9, offering local listeners a chance to make the world of music a lot smaller.

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