Biography
Diali Cissokho was born in a small fishing town in Senegal into a long line of West African griots, a social caste dedicated to preserving their history and culture through song for seven centuries. He landed in Pittsboro, N.C. where he lives on a small farm with his wife, child, nephew, and his goats.
As a musician and songwriter, Diali leads Kaira Ba, a six-piece band that includes fellow-Senegalese band-mate Cheikh Njigal Dieng on percussion and four college-trained musicians from North Carolina Piedmont: guitarist John Westmoreland, drummer Austin McCall, percussionist Will Ridenour, and bassist Jonathon Henderson.
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Diali anchors the band with his storytelling and his kora, a traditional 21-string lute that plays much like a harp.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.