Fatoumata Diawara via Matrix

Fatoumata Diawara I CURATE

Network Node

Name: Fatoumata Diawara
City/Place: Paris
Country: France

CURATION

from this node by: Matrix

Life & Work

Bio: Hailed as one of the most vital standard-bearers of modern African music, Fatoumata Diawara takes her artistry to fresh and thrilling heights on her new album FENFO.

Boldly experimental yet respectful of her roots, it’s a record that defines her as the voice of young African womanhood – proud of her heritage but with a vision that looks confidently to the future and a message that is universal.

Her spectacular 2011 debut album Fatou made the Malian singer and guitarist the most talked about new African artist on the planet. FENFO (which translates as “something to Say”’) dramatically fulfils that promise on a set of vivid and original new compositions that draw on the rich experiences she has enjoyed since.

“I’ve had so many different musical adventures since the last album, touring and working with so many other musicians and I think you can hear how all of that feeds into this record,” she says. “This is my time and I’m sharing my soul.”

Those she has worked with include some of the biggest names in contemporary music. She recorded with Bobby Womack and Herbie Hancock; played Glastonbury and other major festivals; and toured with the Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca. She assembled a West African super-group featuring Amadou and Mariam, Oumou Sangaré and Toumani Diabaté to record a song calling for peace in her troubled homeland; and climbed aboard Damon Albarn’s star-studded Africa Express, which culminated in her sharing a stage with Sir Paul McCartney.

She has also continued her parallel career as an actor, including an acclaimed appearance in 2014’s Timbuktu (Le chagrin des oiseaux), which received both BAFTA and Academy Award nominations.

More recently she shared the stage at New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall with the likes of David Crosby and Snarky Puppy in an evening of topical protest songs – and, according to many, stole the show. “Fatoumata Diawara, the singer and guitarist originally from Mali, provided two of the night’s most striking moments,” Rolling Stone reported. “Her ode to the power of women, “Mousso,” sung in her native language, was hypnotic, and her captivating stage spins enhanced her anthemic “Unite.”

She has also worked courageously as a social activist, campaigning against the trafficking and sale of black migrants in Libyan slave markets and recording the song “Djonya” (it means ‘slavery’ in Bambará) in which she restates the universal, but often sadly disregarded, truth that we all belong to the same human race regardless of colour, ethnicity or religion. The video accompanying the song has so far had 30,000 views and can be seen here.

All of these fruitful experiences have, in their way, contributed to the breadth and maturity of FENFO, on which Fatoumata began work two years ago after signing with the Spanish-based production company Montuno, whose client list includes the original Buena Vista Social Club ™, and with whom she has plotted the album as a self-release.

Like her debut, which crossed over to feature prominently in the ‘albums of the year’ lists in the mainstream rock press, FENFO is an album that has no borders.

The modernity of stinging electric guitar lines combine with the ancient African strings of the kora and kamel ngoni and kit drums combine with the timeless rhythms of traditional percussion as Fatou’s African musicians are joined by key collaborators such as the celebrated French auteur Matthieu Chedid aka M, who plays guitar and organ in addition to co-producing, and the brilliant cellist Vincent Segal, whose elegant playing graces two tracks.

“The first album was an introduction,” Fatoumata says. “I’ve grown as a person and as a musician since then and I think the music feels bolder. My voice is different, more nuanced.”

One of 11 children born to Malian parents in Ivory Coast in 1982, she grew up in the 1990s in the Malian capital Bamako. Fiercely independent from a young age, she became a celebrated child actor and in 2001 starred in Dani Kouyaté’s film Sia, The Dream of the Python, based on an ancient myth about a young girl who runs away from her family.

Real life followed fiction, and against the wishes of her parents who wanted her to marry, she fled Bamako at the age of 19 to join the French street theatre company Royale de Luxe, narrowly escaping the pursuit of the police who had been told she was being ‘kidnapped’.

Touring the world with Royal de Luxe, her singing became a feature of the company’s performances. Encouraged by the favourable reception, she then began singing in the clubs and cafes of Paris.

That in turn led to her backing the American jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Malian superstar Oumou Sangaré on tour and on record an brought her to the attention of the World Circuit label, which released her acclaimed debut album in 2011.

FENFO took shape in different locations including Mali, Burkina Faso, Barcelona and Paris and she soon had a stockpile of 20 songs from which to select.

Touring with Lamomali, an African music project put together by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthieu Chedid, and which included Toumani Diabate and his son Sidike, she found a producer who could assist in realising her vision for the album.

“Matthieu started asking me about my record and saying he wanted to hear it,” Fatoumata says. “I played him the songs, he began adding some guitar parts and it went from there. His involvement seemed super-natural.” Also vital to the realisation of the project was associate producer Pierre Juarez, a long-time ‘M’ associate.

The compositions on FENFO cover the gamut of African styles, ancient and modern, from the slow-burning blues of “Kokoro” to the simmering funk of “Negue Negue” via the syncopated Afro-pop of “Ou Y’an Ye”. Gentle lullabies (“Mama”) sit alongside spirited rockers (“Bonya”). The hypnotic groove of the title track is juxtaposed against the breezy, playful rhythms of “Dibi Bo”. The hauntingly intimate “Don Do” floats on the simple but telling combination of just Fatoumata’s voice and acoustic guitar and Segal’s evocative cello.

A modern day storyteller, the dozen songs cover such timeless subjects as respect, humility, love, migration, family and how to build a better world for our children. Like all the best songs her subtle, poetic lyrics – sung mostly in Bambara – plant the seeds of thoughts and ideas to grow in the listener’s mind.

“I didn’t want to sing in English or French because I wanted to respect my African heritage,” she explains. “But I wanted a modern sound because that’s the world I live in. I’m a traditionalist but I need to experiment, too. You can keep your roots and influences but communicate them in a different style.”

The album is also accompanied by some spectacular photography and a video shot in Ethiopia by Aida Muluneh, whose work is being showcased in the ‘Being: New Photography 2018’ exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

“FENFO expresses how I feel and how I want to sound,” Fatoumata says. “It’s a record that says who I am.”

Fatoumata Diawara Curated

What's Been Happening?

Leci Brandão → Surdo has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- April 23, 2021
Leci Brandão → Singer-Songwriter has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- April 23, 2021
Leci Brandão → Samba has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- April 23, 2021
Leci Brandão → Rio de Janeiro has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- April 23, 2021
Leci Brandão → Pandeiro has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- April 23, 2021
Leci Brandão → Brazil has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- April 23, 2021
Abderrahmane Sissako → Screenwriter has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- November 4, 2019
Abderrahmane Sissako → Mali has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- November 4, 2019
Abderrahmane Sissako → Film Producer has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- November 4, 2019
Abderrahmane Sissako → Film Director has been recommended via Fatoumata Diawara.
- November 4, 2019
A video was posted re Fatoumata Diawara:

«Timbuktu Fasso» - Fatoumata Diawara & Amine Bouhafa
written by Fatoumata Diawara composed by Fatoumata Diawara and Amine Bouhafa based on the Timbuktu main theme by Amine Bouhafa arranged & produced by Amine B...
- November 4, 2019
A video was posted re Fatoumata Diawara:

Fatoumata Diawara - Bonya
Fenfo Available Now Listen : https://fatoumatadiawara.lnk.to/fenfo On Tour: http://bit.ly/FatoumataTour Lyrics SUBTITLES available in English & French Réserv...
- November 4, 2019
A video was posted re Fatoumata Diawara:

Fatoumata Diawara - Nterini
New album Fenfo Available Now Listen : https://fatoumatadiawara.lnk.to/fenfo Réservez vos places pour le Trianon le 11 Décembre : https://fatoumatadiawara.ln...
- November 4, 2019
A category was added to Fatoumata Diawara:

African Music
- November 4, 2019
A category was added to Fatoumata Diawara:

Wassoulou
- November 4, 2019
A category was added to Fatoumata Diawara:

Singer-Songwriter
- November 4, 2019
A category was added to Fatoumata Diawara:

Paris
- November 4, 2019
A category was added to Fatoumata Diawara:

Mali
- November 4, 2019
Fatoumata Diawara is matrixed!
- November 4, 2019

em português →

ARE YOU MATRIXED?

"Many thanks for this – I am touched!"
✅—Julian Lloyd Webber
We're touched too Mr Webber! (Julian Lloyd Webber is among the most deservedly praised cello players of all time)

"Obrigado!"
✅—Founding Member Darius Mans (economist, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology); president-elect of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

"I'm truly thankful ... Sohlangana ngokuzayo :)"
✅—Nduduzo Makhathini (piano, Blue Note recording artist)

"Thanks, this is a brilliant idea!!"
✅—Alicia Svigals (klezmer fiddle; founder of The Klezmatics)

"This is super impressive work ! Congratulations ! Thanks for including me :)))"
✅—Clarice Assad (composer & piano; compositions recorded by Yo Yo Ma and played by orchestras around the world)

This is a matrix in the original sense of "source" ("matrix" derives from "mater", Latin for "mother"). The platform was built in Bahia, Brazil in order to provide a means by which Bahian artists could be reached from around the world. But there's a beautiful catch: To work for these people the platform must work for ALL in the global creative economy. It must (work to) create an INTEGRATED GLOBAL CREATIVE ECONOMY.
How a) Inside this matrix you have a node (a page) — a calling card to the universe — from which you can curate (recommend) other people in the network, and by which they can recommend you.
How b) In mathematics there is something called "the small world phenomenon". Human society is "small world" (which is how most of the 8 billion of us of are within some 6 or so steps of each other). Neurons in the human brain are "small world". The internet is "small world".
How c) This matrix is "small world". Nodes tend to be a small number of steps apart. You can potentially step from any node to any other. You can get to João do Boi from Quincy Jones in 4 steps. And from Quincy Jones to you.
Participation is free to people. Businesses outside of Bahia, Brazil will be levied a nominal fee.
Artificial intelligence not necessary. Real intelligence, yes. The matrix is a real mother for ya! Odoyá!

← in english

VOCÊ ESTÁ NO MATRIX?

"Muito obrigado por isso - estou tocado!"
✅—Julian Lloyd Webber
Estamos tocados também Sr. Webber! (Julian Lloyd Webber está entre os merecidamente mais elogiados violoncelistas de todos os tempos)

"Obrigado!"
✅—Membro Fundador Darius Mans (economista, doutorado, Massachusetts Institute of Technology); presidente eleito do Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

"Estou realmente agradecido... Sohlangana ngokuzayo :)"
✅—Nduduzo Makhathini (piano, artista da Blue Note)

"Obrigada, esta é uma ideia brilhante!!"
✅—Alicia Svigals (violino klezmer; fundadora da The Klezmatics)

"Este é um trabalho super impressionante! Parabéns! Obrigada por me incluir :)))"
✅—Clarice Assad (compositora & piano; composições gravadas por Yo Yo Ma e tocadas por orquestras ao redor do mundo)

Este é uma matrix no sentido original de "fonte" ("matrix" deriva de "mater", latim para "mãe"). A plataforma foi construída na Bahia, Brasil, a fim de fornecer um meio pelo qual artistas baianos pudessem ser alcançados de ao redor do mundo. Mas existe um porém lindo: Para funcionar para essas pessoas a plataforma deve funcionar para TODOS na economia criativa global. Deve (trabalhar pra) criar uma ECONOMIA CRIATIVA GLOBAL INTEGRADA.
Como a) O matrix é uma rede de pessoas/entidades na economia criativa global. Você tem um nó (uma página) — um cartão de visita para o universo numa lista de informações do século 21 que circula o mundo — de onde pode selecionar (recomendar) outras pessoas na rede, e elas podem recomendar você.
Como b) Na matemática existe algo chamado "o fenômeno do mundo pequeno". A sociedade humana é um "mundo pequeno" (que é como a maioria dos 8 bilhões de nós estão dentro de mais ou menos 6 passos de um ao outro). Os neurônios no cérebro humano são um "mundo pequeno". A internet é um "mundo pequeno".
Como c) Este matrix é "pequeno mundo". Os nós tendem a estar separados por um pequeno número de etapas. Você pode potencialmente passar de qualquer nó para qualquer outro. Você pode chegar ao João do Boi de Quincy Jones em 4 etapas. E de Quincy Jones a você.
A participação é gratuita para pessoas. As empresas fora da Bahia, Brasil serão cobradas uma taxa nominal.
Inteligência artificial não necessária. Inteligência real, sim. O matrix é uma verdadeira mãe! Odoyá!