Daniel and his older brother Vieux Dambele, playing the orozo (calabash harp)
Daniel is the youngest of five brothers, the eldest of which is Baba, aged 29. They are a family of Bobo griots (called anu in Bobo). The Bobo are an ethnicity from south-east mali who have settled in Segou and have their own distinctive repertoire although they are also conversant with Mande griot music. The Dambele brothers perform as a group at local festivals and at life-cycle events such as marriages and child-naming celebrations. They are all multi-instrumentalists, specializing in the Bobo balafon called chonzo, the bara (gourd drum), and the orozo (a 12-16 string calabash harp). Largely self-taught, Daniel showed exceptional talent from a very early age – musical instruments were his toys - and was composing his own music by the age of four. His little nephew, Karaba, shows signs of being as talented and motivated as Daniel. Daniel has also been a participant in the Mali-Cuba project: see Mali-Cuba.com
Daniel playing the chanzo
Back to Participants in Mali and Guinea