Touré Kunda
Encyclopedia
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
ese musical group whose 20-year career encompasses recordings in six languages and collaborations with well-known musicians such as Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
. They have had considerable success in Africa and Europe, and are active in social causes such as Children's rights
Children's rights
Children's rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to the young, including their right to association with both biological parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid education,...
and advocates for the homeless.
Biography
Born twenty-two days apart in 1950 in ZiguinchorZiguinchor
Ziguinchor is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region, and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal, lying at the mouth of the Casamance River. It has a population of over 230,000...
in Casamance
Casamance
Casamance is the area of Senegal south of The Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of Basse Casamance and Haute Casamance...
, Senegal, Ismaïla and Sixu Tidiane Touré were introduced to music by their elder brother Amadou, a singer and musician.
They moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to complete their musical education. They worked their way up in the Parisian scene. The group sings in Soninké
Soninke language
The Soninke language is a Mande language spoken by the Soninke people of West Africa. The language has an estimated 1,096,795 speakers, primarily located in Mali, and also in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Ghana...
, Wolof
Wolof language
Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family...
, Fula
Fula language
The Fula or Fulani language is a language of West Africa. It is spoken as a first language by the and related groups from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan...
, Mandingo
Mandinka language
The Mandinka language is a Mandé language spoken by millions of Mandinka people in Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea-Bissau and Chad; it is the main language of The Gambia. It belongs to the Manding branch of Mandé, and is thus fairly...
, Diola, and Portuguese creole, reflecting the multilingual mixture of the people of Casamance.
Their first album, Ismaïla do Sixu, was released in 1979. It was followed by E'Mma Africa in 1980 and Touré Kunda in 1982. In 1985, following the death of their brother and mentor Amadou, Ismael and Sixu Tidiane toured throughout Africa.
Upon returning to France, they found considerable success and critical acclaim among the French music press. In 1992, they were invited to play for Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
at the Courtyard of Human Rights.In 1995 they went into studio Ferber in Paris with producer Laramy Smith to record their vocals in their native language for the "Somebody help me project" their share of proceeds from the sale of the CD to aid homeless worldwide available at laramysmith.com.
In 1999 their album Légendes, a retrospective of their 20-year career, was released. Shortly thereafter, they participated in Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
's album Supernaturel and toured with him. A greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
album, Best Of, was released in 2006. Their most recent album, Santhiaba, came out in 2008.
Ismaïla and Sixu Tidiane Touré are members of the sponsoring committee of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' ecade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the world.
Discography
- 1980 : E'Mma Africa
- 1981 : Touré Kunda
- 1982 : Amadou Tilo
- 1984 : Casamance au clair de lune (Toure Kunda - distribution : Wagram MusicWagram MusicWagram Music is a French independent record label located in Paris. It has a catalog in various music genres such as French Pop, Rock and Hard rock, Pop, World, electronic music, Reggae, Soul, Jazz or Electro-swing. Represented artists include Jessy Matador, Caravan Palace, Corneille, Mass...
) - 1984 : Paris Ziguinchor (Live) (Toure Kunda - distribution : Wagram Music)
- 1985 : Natalia
- 1986 : Toubab Bi (Toure Kunda - distribution : Wagram Music)
- 1987 : Best of Touré Kunda (Toure Kunda - distribution : Wagram Music)
- 1988 : Karadindi
- 1990 : Salam
- 1991 : Sounké (Live)
- 1992 : Sili Beto
- 1995 : The somebody help me project (Laramy Smith - distribution : Universal Songs Limited
- 1996 : Mouslai (Toure Kunda - distribution : Wagram Music)
- 1996 : The Touré Kunda Collection (Putumayo World MusicPutumayo World MusicPutumayo World Music is a New York City based record label, now specialising in compilations of music from various nations, regions or musical styles which may be classified as world music.-Etymology:...
) - 1999 : Légende (Compilation, SonySony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
) - 2000 : Terra Saabi (Toure Kunda - distribution : Wagram Music)
- 2008 : Santhiaba (Toure Kunda - distribution : Wagram Music)