Mamadou Diabate is a master of the talking balafon from West Africa's Burkina Faso. He was born into a traditional musician family of the Sambla people, with a long tradition of practicing the profession of story telling and music making. At 5 he started his professional training with his father Penegue Diabate, who in his day was considered the best balafon player far beyond the border of the sambla culture. At 8 he began apprenticeships with renowned balafonists of neighboring peoples. In 1988 and 1998 he won the first prize of the "National Culture Week" of Burkina Faso. He currently lives in Austria. With his group Percussion Mania he won the Austrian World Music Award (2011) and the Grand Prix of the "Triangle du Balafon" Competition in Mali (2012). For his virtuosity, he was talso honored with the "Prix Alkaly Camara de la virtuosité." In 2019 he received the "Best International Artist" award of Burkina Faso. He has released 14 CDs with his own compositions and 2 others with authentic music of the Sambla and Tusia peoples, both world premieres.