Yaya Diallo was born in 1946 in the village of Fienso (French Sudan) now Mali, to a nomadic Fula father and a Minianka mother.
Yaya has taught Applied World Percussion at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY and offers workshops in traditional African healing, music and dance.
Early Years In his book, The Healing Drum, Yaya Diallo wrote about his mother and her famous family of Zangasso, but not about his nomadic heritage.
In a trance, Yaya's father would predict the future of the village, including diseases, bad weather, disasters, death, gender of babies in their mother's womb, with a surprising accuracy.
Yaya Diallo's knowledge included medications found in nature that can cure or stop the symptoms of some illnesses: diarrhea, flu, headaches, and the bites or stings of scorpions, snakes, bees, and wasps.
His girlfriend's father, manager of Stuart Biscuit, gave him a job in the factory, and he later began to study organic chemistry in order to understand the chemical products in herbs and plants.
Musical career in Montreal, Canada (1976-78) Yaya Diallo quit his job and met Alama Kanate from Côte d'Ivoire, and with two Senegaleses Boubacar Gueye and Moustapha Seck, they founded a band called Djeme-kan.
Karl Parent, a journalist of CBC International was amazed by what he heard at L'Improvu and offered Yaya Diallo the opportunity to make music for the documentary film Leopold Cedar Senghor, Former President of Senegal.
For Warren Robbins, son of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, founder and director of the Museum of African Arts in Washington, D.C., who had accomplished a mission impossible, Yaya Diallo played a special music for brave people.
People such as John Abercrombie, Karl Beger, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Ingrid, Jack de Johnette, Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, and Dewey Redman had performed at CMS.
Even though Yaya Diallo said that he knew nothing about jazz, he felt at home in jam sessions with Baikida Carrol, Julius Hempell, Anthony Davis, and others.
That symposium was organized for European scholars and experts in intercultural cooperation by University De La Paix and addressed these questions: What are unifying myths of the world?
After a week of work using six languages, Yaya Diallo was tasked with writing a French-language report of the symposium, along with his friend Adama Samassekou who was living in Paris, France.
In Namur, Yaya Diallo had shared a room with Professor Alpha Oumar Konare, who later became a two-term President of Mali (1992–2002) and was chairperson of the African Union.
[citation needed] Music and Multicultural Education In 1982, as a musician, Diallo played two weeks at CNE (Canadian National Exhibit) in Toronto.
Mickey Hart, the drummer of the Grateful Dead, wrote two books, in which he quoted Diallo's work and gave his opinion about how good he thought The Healing Drum was.
Additional performances include: _An Evening of Balafon Music Featuring Yaya Diallo and Pascal Millogo at the Smithsonian Museum Washington, D.C. Sunday, December 27, 1981.
_1988, The two founders of MASC, Jan Andrews and Jennifer Cayley, had organized a big festival called "Culture Canada" at Park Lauier Located at Hull Quebec.
With Stones, pieces of wood, small pipelines, bamboo sticks, children learned how to make quickly the instruments, and how to play together as an orchestra.
_World Music Institute Features African Troubadours: Hassan Hakmoun, James Makubuya, Musa Foday Suso, Yaya Diallo at Town Hall NYC, NY.
Guest Artist and Artist in Residence for 12 years (see brochure 2003–04, p. 15) _Village Awards March 27, 2004 Community Service/Arts, Yaya Diallo; The Healing Drum by the Godfather of Village Awards, Councilman George Unseld (6th District) Louisville, KY. No year in text: _African Troubadours featuring Hassan Hakmoun, James Makubuya, Yaya Diallo.
People as JOhn Abercrombie, Karl Beger, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Ingrid, Jack de Johnette, Pat Metheny had performed at the same festivals.
_"Champ meeting, Former Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali Greeted Drummer Yaya Diallo at Dunbar Community Center in Lexington, KY." February 1995.
Another one of the key elements of the group is Mali's Yaya Diallo, who was in town yesterday to conduct workshops at a couple of schools before the big show.
4, 1990 "Book Beat" by Jason Fine 5 Yaya Diallo Heals the Spirit, The Oberlin Review, September 22, 1995, by Stephame 6 West African Dance, Music, and Culture Take in Kentucky.
The Courier Journal, Neighborhoods, February 6, 2002, by Tonia Holbrook 8 The Only Representative of Mother Africa in this set is Yaya Diallo ... Down Beat: The Contemporary Music Magazine.
10 "Champ meeting, Former Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali Greeted Drummer Yaya Diallo at Dunbar Community Center in Lexington, KY." Feb 1995.
People as JOhn Abercrombie, Karl Beger, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Ingrid, Jack de Johnette, Pat Metheny had performed at the same festivals.
Another one of the key elements of the group is Mali's Yaya Diallo, who was in town yesterday to conduct workshops at a couple of schools before the big show.
59 World Music Institute Features African Troubadours: Hassan Hakmoun, James Makubuya, Musa Foday Suso, Yaya Diallo at Town Hall NYC, NY.