Alpha Yaya Diallo

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Alpha Yaya Diallo bigraphy, stories - Canadian musician

Alpha Yaya Diallo : biography

Alpha Yaya Diallo is a self-taught guitarist, singer, and songwriter, who lives in Vancouver.

Diallo was born in Guinea-Conakry and when young moved about the country following the job moves of his father, a surgeon. A portion of his mother’s family lived in Senegal, which gave him a rich musical education. In Africa he taught himself to play the guitar, and worked with several Guinean groups such as The Sons of Ra’is and Syli Authentique. He moved to Europe in the mid-1980s, where he worked particularly with the Fatala group associated with Peter Gabriel’s music label. Diallo moved to Vancouver in 1991. He released his solo first album, Nene, which was nominated for a Juno award, as was his 1996 album Futur. He won his first Juno, for The Message in 1999 in the "Best World Music Album" category. He received further Junos in 2002 (for The Journey) and in 2004 with the African Guitar Summit compilation. He released Djama in 2005. Diallo is from Guinea and incorporates its rich musical tradition into his original compositions. He won the Best World Artist-Solo at the inaugural Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2006. He produced film documentary, called Best of Both Worlds which was filmed in West African, Canada and France. He plays with Ghanaian guitarist Pa JoeDiallo, Adam Solomo and Mighty Popo in African Guitar Summit.

Discography

  • 1993 Néné (Bafing Productions) – nominated for a Juno Award
  • 1996 Futur (Bafing Productions) – nominated for a Juno Award
  • 1998 The Message (Bafing Productions) – won a Juno Award in Best Global category
  • 2001 The Journey (Jericho Beach Music) – won a 2002 Juno Award in Best Global Album category
  • 2004 African Guitar Summit (C.B.C. Recordings) collaboration – won a 2005 Juno Award in Best World Music Album category
  • 2005 Djama (Jericho Beach Music) – nominated for a Juno Award
  • 2010 Immé (Jericho Beach Music)