There seems to have been little or no acknowledgement of the death of the Gambian kora player Dembo Konte. He died on or about 14 Jan 2014, apparently from complications of asthma. I came across this by chance; I decided last week to play one of my old Dembo Konte/ Kausu Kouyate LPs. Realising that I had not heard of him for many years and was aware of no recent recordings, I decided to Google him and was stunned to find that he had died. There is not much information available but this link has some: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=153393&messages=3).
A few years ago I visited the Gambia and was told that Dembo Konte was living in Sweden. I don't know whether this was in fact the case, but the mudcat website implies that his son at least was living in the Gambia at the time of Dembo's death. Had he been living in Sweden I would have expected him to have toured regularly in Europe. I only saw him live once, in Manchester in 1990 with Kausu Kouyate. I have 3 of his recordings on LP and cassette and I am not aware of any CD transfers (the Rogue label for which he has recorded appears to have ceased trading).
On hearing of Dembo Konte's passing I checked my old copies of Songlines and could find no obituary or even mention of his death, so I have let the magazine know. I do not take Folk Roots but if anyone reading this does, please say whether his death was noted there.
A few years ago I visited the Gambia and was told that Dembo Konte was living in Sweden. I don't know whether this was in fact the case, but the mudcat website implies that his son at least was living in the Gambia at the time of Dembo's death. Had he been living in Sweden I would have expected him to have toured regularly in Europe. I only saw him live once, in Manchester in 1990 with Kausu Kouyate. I have 3 of his recordings on LP and cassette and I am not aware of any CD transfers (the Rogue label for which he has recorded appears to have ceased trading).
On hearing of Dembo Konte's passing I checked my old copies of Songlines and could find no obituary or even mention of his death, so I have let the magazine know. I do not take Folk Roots but if anyone reading this does, please say whether his death was noted there.
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