Naby Camara Musician Bio

Naby Camara Musician Bio
Home Bio Naby's CDs Resume The Balafon	From the village of Kanteli in the coastal region of Guinea, West Africa, comes the virtuoso and master balafon player Naby Camara. Born into the griot tradition, Naby's musical journey took him into the griot lands of West Africa during his formative years. After studying extensively with his master Amadou Dioubate, Naby journeyed into Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Cote d'Ivoire absorbing musical traditions to broaden and to diversify his musical as well as his personal knowledge. Several years later Naby returned to Guinea as an accomplished and well-traveled musician armed with a wide repertoire of griot music and incomparable experience on intricate complexities of the balafon. Naby soon evolved as one of the most versatile players in Guinea, performing with such groups as Les Merveilles de Guinee, Bala etses Baladins, Les Ballets Africains de Guinee, and Mande Yagha. From traveling the world with Les Ballets Africains de Guineee and Fatala (which was based in Amsterdam and recorded for Peter Gabriel's Real World label) Naby gained international notoriety as a master balafon player. His innovative balafon playing shows a continuous plan the new and old, modern and traditional music. Countless collaborations with great griot musicians such as Prince Diabate and Ousmane Kouyate (an original member of Salif Keita's band), and participation in Le Bicentenaire de la Revolution in France, further demonstrate Naby's great talent as a musician. He is also the two-time winner of Canada's Juno Award for best Global Album of the Year, with the group Takaja in 1995, and for his playing on the top-selling African Guitar Summit album in 2004. Naby currently makes his home in Seattle, Washington, USA, where he performs with his group Lagni Sussu (loosely translated as black and white people living together). Reprinted from African Music Encyclopedia by Janet Planet
Home Bio Naby's CDs Resume The Balafon