The YELI Ensemble is named after the word 'Yeli', also called  Griot in French. A Yeli is a 'living archive' of West African people's traditions. It is someone who has learned their art form from the youngest age, initially from their parents and then from their community and different masters of the art form. 

Both Ibrahima Dioubat and Sekouna Conte are born into the Yeli tradition. They are masters of their craft and are celebrated internationally for sharing the rich and amazing culture of Guinea Conakry, a culture that dates back as far as the Mali Empire. Ibrahima is a djembefola, specializing in the solo instrument the djembe, the 'star' of West African percussions. Sekouna plays Kora. Both musicians also play n'goni ( ancestor to the banjo), balafon and all other Guinea percussion.

The Yeli Ensemble is a collective of artists invited from West Africa sometimes combined with local artists. We rotate artists in order to represent the wealth of art forms on the African continent. We are very excited to have Sekouna join us from Mexico City where he now resides, performs and teaches percussion and dance.