Seckou Keita facts for kids
Seckou Keita (born February 14, 1978) is a talented musician from Senegal. He plays the kora, which is a unique African string instrument. He is also a drummer. Seckou is known for playing special kora music from a region in southern Senegal called Casamance.
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Seckou's Musical Journey
Seckou was born in Ziguinchor, Senegal. His family has a long history of music. His father's family, the Keitas, were kings in Mali. His mother's family, the Cissokhos, are griots. Griots are like storytellers and musicians who pass down history and traditions through songs.
Seckou started his international music career in 1996. He worked with his uncle, Solo Cissokho, and played at a festival in Norway. He also played with musicians from Cuba, India, and Scandinavia.
Later, Seckou moved to the United Kingdom. He traveled a lot, playing in places like Spain, France, and Greece. He also performed at big music festivals like WOMAD and Glastonbury. He played by himself and with famous musicians like Dr. L. Subramaniam.
In 2001, Seckou was nominated for a special award by BBC Radio 3. In 2004, he started his own group, the Seckou Keita Quartet. Later, his sister Binta Susso joined, and they became the Seckou Keita Quintet.
Today, Seckou lives near Nottingham, England. He teaches drumming and kora workshops in schools and at festivals. He helps young people learn about music. He also works with a company called Sewa Beats, which uses music to help people learn new skills.
How Seckou Changed the Kora
Seckou has done some amazing things with the kora. In 2002, he created his own special ways to tune the instrument. He explained that there are four main traditional tunings for the kora. These tunings come from different regions in Africa. Seckou found a way to combine all these tunings into one kora. This makes his kora sound different and lets him play many more types of music.
In 2003, he asked his cousin to build him a unique double-necked kora. This special kora allows him to play even more complex music during his shows and recordings.
Seckou also wanted to make kora music easier for everyone to learn. Traditionally, only griot families learned the kora by listening and practicing. Seckou wanted his own children, who grew up in the UK, to be able to learn it too. So, he worked with a musician named Alex Wilson. They broke down kora music into notes that could be written down.
In 2020, they released eight books of kora music. These books are written for instruments like the piano, flute, cello, violin, and clarinet. Now, more people can learn and play kora music, even if they are not from a griot family.
Working with Other Artists
Seckou loves to work with other musicians from different backgrounds. He believes that music should be honest. He feels that the deep meanings of songs must be kept safe, even when different styles are mixed. He says that Cuban and Indian sounds can blend with kora music without losing their unique flavors.
In 1998, he joined a group called Baka Beyond as a drummer. In 2000, he released his first solo album, Baiyo. This album showed his musical journey from Africa to Europe and India.
A big collaboration started in 2013. Seckou began touring with Catrin Finch, a Welsh harpist. Their concerts were called "classic" by a famous reviewer. Their albums, Clychau Dibon (2013) and Soar (2018), won many awards. Seckou also started singing more in these albums. They still play together, even performing at famous events like The Proms.
In 2012, Seckou met Omar Sosa, a Cuban jazz pianist. Their first album, Transparent Water, came out in 2017. It was called "beautiful" and "spiritual" by music magazines. They released another album, SUBA, in 2021.
In 2019, Seckou joined the AKA Trio. This group includes Antonio Forcione, an Italian guitarist, and Adriano Adewale, a Brazilian percussionist. Their album, JOY, was released in 2019.
Also in 2019, Seckou was part of Spell Songs. This project brought together folk musicians, art, and text from a children's book called The Lost Words: A Spell Book. They performed at the Hay Festival.
In 2020, Seckou wanted to use his music to help with the COVID-19 pandemic. He asked other artists to join him. They created a charity song called Now Or Never. It was released in July 2020. Musicians from Africa, Scotland, India, Cuba, and Japan took part. All the money from Now Or Never goes to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help with the pandemic.
Seckou is now focusing on working with more African artists. He has released songs with Aida Samb and Baaba Maal, who are famous Senegalese singers.
In April 2022, Seckou was nominated for two Songlines Awards for his work with Omar Sosa and Spell Songs.
Awards and Achievements
Seckou Keita has won many awards for his music:
- 1998: Special mention in the International Songwriting Competition.
- 2001: Nominated for the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards.
- 2010: Silimbo Passage was No.1 on the iTunes World Music Chart.
- 2012: Miro was No.1 on the European World Music Chart.
- 2013: Clychau Dibon won fRoots Critics Poll Album of the Year.
- 2014: Clychau Dibon was No.1 on the Amazon World Music Chart.
- 2014: Clychau Dibon was a Top Ten World Album in MOJO Magazine.
- 2014: Nominated for Best Duo and Best Traditional Track with Catrin Finch at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
- 2014: Won Best Cross Cultural Collaboration with Catrin Finch from Songlines Magazine.
- 2015: 22 Strings was voted one of Sing Out!’s Top Ten Albums.
- 2015: 22 Strings was Runner-Up for Best Packaged CD in the fRoots Awards.
- 2016: 22 Strings was Nominated for Best Artist - Africa & Middle East Category - Songlines Music Awards.
- 2016: 22 Strings Won Best Album - Africa and Middle East Category - Songlines Music Awards.
- 2018: SOAR was Number one in the Transglobal World Music Charts.
- 2018: SOAR was nominated for the Welsh Music Prize.
- 2018: SOAR won Best Transregional Album in the Transglobal World Music Chart Awards.
- 2018: SOAR won Songlines Magazine Best Fusion Album.
- 2018: SOAR won fRoots Critics Poll Album of the Year.
- 2019: Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita won 'Best Duo/Band' in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
- 2019: Seckou Keita won 'Musician Of The Year' in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
- 2022: Songlines Awards nominations for Spell Songs and SUBA with Omar Sosa.
Music Albums and Singles
Albums
- 2000: Seckou Keita - Baiyo (Orphan), later called Mali
- 2001: EtE (Seckou Keita, Martin Cradick, Nii Tagoe) - EtE
- 2003: Jalikunda Cissokho - Lindianeafter
- 2006: Seckou Keita Quartet - Tama Silo: Afro Mandinka Soul
- 2008: Seckou Keita Quartet - Silimbo Passage
- 2012: Seckou Keita - Miro
- 2013: Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita - Clychau Dibon
- 2014: Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita - Gobiath
- 2015: Seckou Keita - 22 Strings
- 2017: Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita - Transparent Water
- 2018: Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita - SOAR
- 2019: AKA Trio - Joy
- 2021: Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita - SUBA
- 2023: Seckou Keita with BBC Concert Orchestra – African Rhapsodies
Singles
- 2020: Seckou Keita & Friends - Now or Never
- 2021: Seckou Keita featuring Aida Samb - Elles Sont Toutes Belles
- 2021: Seckou Keita featuring Baaba Maal - Homeland
Helping Others
Seckou is also involved in charity work. In 2010, he started working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He decided to give 50% of the money from his CD, The Silimbo Passage, to help people affected by war. Seckou chose the ICRC because he remembered them helping people when he was a child in Casamance, a region that has faced conflict. He said, "The International Red Cross sparks memories from my youth. I didn't know what they were about but I knew they were doing good things."
In 2020, he gathered musicians from all over the world to create the charity song Now Or Never. This song helped raise money for the ICRC's efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Seckou's Life
Seckou moved to the UK in 1999. He currently lives in Sneinton, England.
