N'famady Kouyaté

Artistic Director, Musician 

The Successors of the Mandingue is a Cardiff based West African music and dance
company. N’famady Kouyate (Artistic Director) is a master musician from Guinea.
Fresh from touring the UK and Ireland with Gruff Rhys - N’famady Kouyaté is
Malinké in origin, born into a griot/djeli family; the African bardic tradition where djeli
have responsibility for preserving traditional Mandingue culture through the sharing
of ancient rhythms, songs, and stories. Descended from a long line of djeli,
N’famady is a master balafonist, singer, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, and the
founder of Les Héritiers du Mandingue (a traditional Mandingue-modern fusion
group) – now reborn as The Successors of the Mandingue.

As an infant N’famady was taught to play balafon (a traditional natural wooden
xylophone) and went on to djembe and drumming in the ballet groups of Conakry
(Guinea’s capital). He later joined various theatre and orchestral groups for festival
tours across Africa.

Now resident in Wales, N'famady and The Successors of the Mandingue are a
collective that deliver a range of performances (solo, tradi-modern fusion groups,
and large traditional West African ensembles), plus a range of workshops including
balafon, djembe, African percussion, dance, song, and story-telling.

Our projects range from modern Afro-Welsh fusions, tradi-modern performances
with musicians from across the African diaspora based in the UK, to authentic West
African traditional works. Our creative musical work is varied, but all rooted in the
traditions of the West African Mandingue tribe, influenced by our artistic lead and
griot N'famady Kouyaté. The Successors of the Mandingue is a collaborative
collective that is grounded by these traditional roots, whose membership evolves
with each incarnation and project.

N'famady was born into a griot/djeli family; a West African bardic tradition where the
Djeli/griots have a guardianship responsibility for preserving traditional Mandingue
culture through the sharing of ancient rhythms, songs, stories, and music.

N’famady as an infant was taught to play balafon (a traditional West African natural
wooden xylophone), the preferred instrument of both his parents. The balafon is
sacred in Guinean culture and is traditionally played during ceremonial
celebrations, carnivals, and community festivals.

Legend tells that the first balafon was discovered in the thirteenth century by the
King of Susu, Soumaoro Kanté, and it was given into the guardianship of the djeli
Bala Fassèké Kouyaté. The Kouyatés have therefore been a significant family of
djeli for generations. N'famady is a direct descendant, and one of the stars of the
succession of the Mandingue.