The three members of Trio Da Kali are exponents of southern Mali’s Mandé culture. Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté is the trio’s vocalist, Lassana Diabaté plays the balafon, a West African xylophone, and Bassekou Kouyaté plays the bass n'goni, a West African lute. The trio aims to lend a contemporary twist to ancient and neglected repertoires. Trio Da Kali was formed in 2014, originally to develop a collaborative project with the Kronos Quartet. David Harrington, first violinist of the Kronos Quartet, described their work together as one of the most beautiful collaborations of the quartet’s 40-year career. The trio and quartet had their debut live performance at the Clarice Smith Center for Performing Arts in Maryland, and came together again in 2015 to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The studio recording of their collaboration, Ladilikan, was chosen by several publications as one of the best releases of 2017. Since their formation, Trio Da Kali have performed at several major venues and festivals across the world, including the Royal Albert Hall, Théâtre de la Ville and the London Jazz Festival. Besides their success as a trio, the three musicians also maintain independent careers, and each has several recordings to their name. Following the successful collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, Lassana was invited to contribute a new composition to the quartet’s Fifty for the Future project, a library of works consisting primarily of compositions from non-Western countries and cultures.