Alpha Yaya Diallo

Alpha Yaya Diallo is a Guinean-born Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter whose mastery of West African guitar traditions has earned him international acclaim. Born in Conakry, Guinea, Diallo traveled extensively throughout his childhood as his father, a doctor, worked across the country, exposing young Alpha to diverse cultural experiences from different ethnic groups within Guinea and neighboring countries. A self-taught musician with a remarkable ear, Diallo learned to transpose the melodic and rhythmic patterns of traditional Guinean instruments to guitar. As bandleader of the Sons of Rais at the University of Conakry, he toured extensively throughout West Africa before joining Fatala, recording for Peter Gabriel's Real World label and performing at prestigious festivals including WOMAD in England. Settling in Vancouver in 1991, Diallo has won three Juno Awards (The Message in 1999, The Journey in 2002, and African Guitar Summit in 2004) and was named Best World Artist-Solo at the inaugural Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2006. His dexterous acoustic and electric guitar playing places him among the front ranks of African guitarists alongside luminaries like Salif Keita and Youssou N'Dour.

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