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Mali Blues
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
| Mali
Booking-Agent:
Oliver Arnold
+49 30 261032928
oa@f-cat.de
World renowned guitarrist Taj Mahal describes him as “a genius, a living proof that the blues comes from the region of Segu”. Bassekou has collaborated with many musicians in and outside of Mali. He played in the Symmetric trio with Toumani Diabate, on the kora, and famous Keletigui Diabate on the balafon. He was part of the Kulanjan project recorded with Taj Mahal. He is one of the key musicians on Ali Farka Toure’s posthumous album ‘Savane’ which was released July 2006. Most recently, he toured with Ali Farka Toure leaving a lasting impression on the audience as the band’s solo ngoni player.
The ngoni is one of Africas secrets that is still to be discovered. Along the kora, it is on of the key instruments of the Griot culture. But unlike the kora whose history goes back only a few hundred years, the ngoni has been the main instrument in griot storytelling way back into the days of Soundiata Keita (the grave of Sundiata’s grandmother, who died in the 13th century, is near Garana). The repertoire Bassekou plays is from the region of Segu, the heart of Bambara culture. Unlike Mandingo griot music, Bambara music is pentatonic in nature, a music as close to the Blues as you can get in Africa. Segu Blue features: Kasse Mady Diabate, Lobi Traore, Lassana Diabate and singer Zoumana Tereta. By the way: there is no Kora and no djembe on the album. The calabash and the talking drum provide all the necessary percussive groove.
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba are Mali's first ngoni quartet and the first band really focussing on the ngoni. The added a bass ngoni to their music, with a new style of playing it unheard of in Mali. Fresh, funky, but rooted in a traditional style that goes back to days of the Bamana Empire of Segu, one of the last precolonial empires in Mali..
The album was produced by Lucy Durán, recorded at studio Bogolan in Bamako by Yves Wernert and mixed by Jerry Boys (the man responsible for recording and mixing Buena Vista social Club amongst others) in London. The photography is by Thomas Dorn. Executive producer: Jay Rutledge.
