Boncana Maïga

Boncana Maïga is a singer , flautist and arranger from Mali .

Life

In the early 1960s he was the band leader and saxophonist of the Le Negro band De Gao . He moved to Havana , Cuba , in 1963 , where he learned to play the flute and mainly studied world music . During this time he played Cuban music in the band Las Maravillas De Mali . In 1974 he returned to Mali, but continued working with Las Maravillas De Mali under the new name National Badema . In the late 1970s he moved to Abidjan , Ivory Coast , and from then on devoted himself to arranging for other artists. He worked with Alpha Blondy , Abdoulaye Diabaté , Omar Pene and Super Diamono , Ismaël Isaac , Nayanka Bell , Paul Nemlin . He accompanied the Africa tour of Fania All Stars , a New York salsa combo, and founded the Ivorian radio orchestra. At the beginning of the 1990s Maïga initiated the globally successful salsa project Africando with the Ivorian producer and label owner Ibrahim Sylla in New York , which later developed into an all-star band and which released its first album in 1993. In April 2010 Boncana Maïga became President of the Malian Children's Parliament.

Awards

• 1997: Kora Award in the Best Arrangement category

Discography

• 1992: Omar Pene - Nila (guest appearance)
• 1997: The Best Of Salsa

Web links

• Literature by and about Boncana Maïga in the catalog of the German National Library