Seckou Keita was born in the south of Senegal and is descended from the royal Keitas of Mali. He began his professional career at the age of seven and learned how to sing, play the kora and the drums with the famous family of griots (tribal poets and musicians), the Cissokhos. Under the guidance of his uncle, Solo Cissokho, Keita launched his international career in 1996, with appearances at Norway’s Forde Festival together with Cuban and Scandinavian musicians, and later, with the Indian violinist Dr. L. Subrimanium, which led to a tour of India the following year.
Seckou is an outstanding kora player who toured in many festivals worldwide, has performed in the premiere of the Lion King in London and had the privilege to open club concerts for Salif Keita on his Mouffo album tour and Youssou N Dour on his From Village to Town album tour.
Seckou worked as a drummer for several years, touring all over Europe and North America and even had the honour in 2005 to perform and record a live CD/DVD with the greatest living Djembe Master Mamady Keita.
His many musical projects evolved so well that since 2004, his band SKQ performed more than 400 concerts in 30 countries...! Conscious of their ecological footprint, Keita took action to reduce it significantly and offset transports to finance environmental projects in UK and East Africa.
“Everything in music must be honest and the real meaning of melodies and songs must be preserved. Different kinds of music must be matched in such a way that the connections between, for example, Cuban and Indian music and the kora repertoire can be explored without losing the quintessence of the different styles and traditions”.