Last updated: 7 hours ago
After a career that spanned a half-century in which he became the most famous musician from Burkina Faso and a legend of African popular music, Amadou Balaké sadly died in 2014 at the age of 70.
Born Amadou Traoré in Burkina Faso when it was still the French West African colony of Upper Volta, he was given the name Balaké by Guinean fans who liked the way he sang the Mande classic of that title.
His was a sound that traveled well and he recorded his first album in Accra, Ghana, in 1976; his second in Lagos, Nigeria; the next two in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and then his classic salsa album, "Amadou Balaké à New York", in that city with some of its top Latin sidemen in 1979.
He was based in Paris for most of the ‘80s but eventually settled in Ouagadougou before being invited to join the international salsa supergroup Africando, with whom Balaké recorded four albums and toured far and wide.
In 2013 he was still giving weekly shows in Ouagadougou when he recorded "In Conclusion", the album that would prove to be the old master’s last testament.
Born Amadou Traoré in Burkina Faso when it was still the French West African colony of Upper Volta, he was given the name Balaké by Guinean fans who liked the way he sang the Mande classic of that title.
His was a sound that traveled well and he recorded his first album in Accra, Ghana, in 1976; his second in Lagos, Nigeria; the next two in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and then his classic salsa album, "Amadou Balaké à New York", in that city with some of its top Latin sidemen in 1979.
He was based in Paris for most of the ‘80s but eventually settled in Ouagadougou before being invited to join the international salsa supergroup Africando, with whom Balaké recorded four albums and toured far and wide.
In 2013 he was still giving weekly shows in Ouagadougou when he recorded "In Conclusion", the album that would prove to be the old master’s last testament.
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