Yaya Diallo

Yaya Diallo is a musician and author from the Republic of Mali.

Yaya Diallo was born in 1946 in the village of Fienso (French Sudan) now Mali, to a nomadic Fula father and a Minianka mother. Yaya was raised in a culture that works, worships, lives and breathes to the beat of the drum. Thanks to his mother, being from the illustrious Berthe family (hunters, county chiefs, musicians…), young Yaya had the opportunity to hear some of the best musicians of the former canton Zangasso. The old musician, healer and sorcerer Nangape Kone became his protector and mentor.

Arriving in Montreal, Canada, in 1967, Yaya graduated from the University of Montreal in Chemistry in 1973. Following a brief career as a chemist, Yaya returned to traditional African music. He was a co-founder of the music and dance groups Djembe-Kan and Cleba and a member of the African Troubadours with the World Music Institute as well as a faculty member with the Creative Music Studio, Woodstock, NY, and the Omega Institute.

Yaya is currently teaching Applied World Percussion at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. He also offers workshops in traditional African healing, music and dance for the community. He was a seasonal lecturer at Carlton University, teaching Aural Training I & II from 1987 to 1992. In the meantime Yaya worked for Multiculturalism at Schools and the Community (MASC) in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, teaching more than 6000 students per year. From 1974 to 1986, he was a staff member of the Intercultural Institute of Montreal, Canada. There he organized workshops and lectures about different aspects of diverse cultures living in Montreal. Topics ranged from Alternative Medicine to Aging to Music in different cultures.

He has performed throughout the USA, Canada, Asia (Japan, Singapore), Europe (France, England, and Belgium).

1 Early Years 1.1 Origin in Fienso

In his book, The Healing Drum, Yaya Diallo wrote a lot of things about his mother and her famous family of Zangasso. He never wrote about his nomadic heritage. That is a missing link in his life that people do not know. Yaya Diallo’s great grand father’s name was Yoro Diallo. When he stopped in Fienso he changed his family name and opted for Sountoura instead. Sountoura and Diallo are the same name. In some parts of West Africa, Fula people (Fulani; French: Peul; Fula: Fulɓe) are not welcomed, especially the Diallo family. Today in Mali, all people whose family name is Sountoura are Diallo, which is a living fact.

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