2022 "Special Instruments"
Biography
Aly Keïta, a virtuoso of the Balafon, was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. From his youngest age, he was introduced to the instrument by his father, himself a Balafon player, the musical ancestor of the Xylophone and the Marimba.
Aly Keïta has just been nominated for the German Jazz Prize 2022.Today, Aly Keïta lives in Berlin and connects musical worlds with impressive virtuosity. He wanders between spectacular African rhythm, polyphony and jazz elements, and combines them to create a wonderful and unique sound world - two magical hands and a thousand and one strokes.
"I want my music to be alive and full of energy, hope and love, music that I can share with the audience and through which the audience and I can share our joy."
Main Projects
Aly Keïta Solo
Balafon Recital
for the jazz, world music and classical stages
Experience a new dimension of the balafon, a traditional West African instrument usually used for accompanying percussion. Aly Keita has modernised it and brought it to the centre of big stages around the world as a unique solo instrument. A winner of the German Jazz Award in the "Special Instruments" category, Keita plays his exciting grooves with stunning virtuosity, capturing the essence of the piano sound.
Aly Keïta Trio
For the jazz and world music stages, open air, clubs
The set connects West African traditions with contemporary improvised music and jazz.
The album places the balafon at the center of the ensemble, highlighting expanded harmonic possibilities and chromatic tuning that allow the instrument to function as a masterful, virtuosic lead voice. Keïta’s trio shifts between dance-oriented African rhythms, intricate counterpoint and jazz-based improvisation, aiming for a sound that connects club-oriented grooves with concert-hall easthetics.
(Tyler Bennet, worldmusiccentral.org)
2022
Press
“This is music of exceptional quality and soul. Who knew that the humble African wooden xylophone could be so intricate, delicate, and powerful in equal measures?”
Rose Skelton, Songline, Top Of The World Album
“Nine tracks that describe, illustrate, inform about the rich palette of sounds of the one who, in the current international circuit, is rightly considered to be the best in his instrument, without dispute none, and all generations confused. He has opened the instrument to another dimension. A pioneer, a scout, a beacon.”
Jean-Jacques Dikongue, journalist
Videos
