Amadou Kiénou (Burkina Faso)
Bio
Born in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, Amadou Kiénou is the seventh son of a family of praise singers from Dafing, originating from a tribe descended from the ancient Mandingue Empire. Trained from his youth to be a griot, through the rituals and ceremonies that still mark the life of his native village (baptisms, weddings, funerals, sacred rites etc), as a professional he has worked with such artists as Manu Dibango, Youssou N’Dour and Baaba Maal, and has performed concerts in Africa, Europe, South America and North America. Amadou uses a new and unique way of conceiving music and performing it in a spectacular way. Due to the deep experience the Kiénous have from their musical backgrounds, Amadou is able to draw upon this and demonstrate it during his live shows. During his solo concerts, Amadou expresses his mastery of the djembe and plays it with talent and ease, endlessly offering new and rich sounds in an astonishing and creative way. Like no one else, he can play both the djembe and the tama simultaneously, a technique that is a marvel to watch.
