Born in the Ivory Coast, Kelly Bado was exposed to a wide variety of musical styles growing up, from American gospel to French Canadian pop music by artists such as Celine Dion and Lara Fabien. Her mother, a church choir singer, introduced her to music, and that is where Bado began her musical journey.
“[The church choir] is where I started learning about music and singing. Actually, maybe I was listening, but when I started doing choirs, the singing part came to play,” Bado said.
Bado’s music evolved further when she moved to Winnipeg to attend the Université de Saint-Boniface. Feeling isolated after leaving her homeland, Bado turned to her passion for music and looked for community church choirs to find her place in the city’s French quarter.
Now an accomplished singer-songwriter who performs across Canada, Bado has won numerous awards such as the Western Canadian Music Award for Francophone Artist of the Year in 2021 and the People’s Choice Award in season six of La Voix Quebec.
Bado’s diverse influences can be heard in some of her latest works. “Belles âmes,” for example, is reminiscent of slow French ballads but embellished with African gospel harmonies. On the other hand, her afro-pop song “Typical” is energetic and catchy. Despite her versatility, Bado emphasizes that her music always retains an African essence.
“I don’t box myself in a certain category. But I will say, though, that African sound and world sound is always part of my music, whether I’m doing folk or pop […] The connection is that African element. It will always be in all of the songs,” she says.
On Nov. 10, Bado partnered with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra to perform some of her songs in her concert Mama Héin the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain. Bado explained that the concert’s name is the title of one of the songs she wrote about Africa in her album.
“[Africa] is where humanity started […] It says that it all started there. So, I place myself in that position, and I encourage Africa and I say, ‘you are the mama. You started everything.’ But yet with history […] we know there was a lot of things that happened. And then we are where we are now,” she said.
“So the song is really about wanting to hope and calling that mama to wake up. You know, it’s like that’s why I say ‘Mama Hé.’ ‘Hé’ is just a shout.”
Bado first began collaborating with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra in the summer when they invited her to perform some of her songs. Wanting to incorporate different instrumentations and world music into her songs, she requested a collaborative concert performance. According to Bado, this collaboration is the most exciting part about Mama Hé.
“It’s incredible how a song could sound different, like it can be made in different ways. Even two different producers can reproduce a different version of the same song,” she said.
“So, a song is never done to me. It’s like you have your interpretation of it, which is great, but there is so many ways that the song could be done, and this would be one way just to hear it,” she added.
“I’m looking forward because of the richness of the instrumentation, right, and how everybody comes together in parts. I feel like a child waiting to hear [the music]. I’m very excited.”
This interview was conducted before the concert took place. Bado would like to credit Chris Burke-Gaffney, Musicaction and Manitoba Film and Music for making her songs possible. For more information about Bado’s performances, visit www.kellybado.com, follow her on Instagram at @kellybado, or on X at @KellyBado1. Support her new album through her GoFundMe page.
