Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Blues of Mali (RBA)
$35 advance, $40 doors ($30 student/senior 65+ w/ ID)
- Bassekou Kouyate, ngoni
- Amy Sacko, voice
Bassekou Kouyat, returns to Roulette after his fantastic performance in the Spring of 2023. Descended from a long line of griots (storytellers/historians), Kouyate is Mali's legendary master of the ngoni, an ancient West African lute that is an ancestor of the banjo. Renowned for his innovations, he takes the ngoni into the 21st Century and is credited with creating the first ensemble featuring ngonis of different sizes to provide the different "voices" needed for the music. In his long career, he has collaborated with such musical icons as Toumani Diabaté, Ali Farka Touré, Taj Mahal, Paul McCartney, Bono, Bonnie Raitt, and Béla Fleck, and toured the world with his powerful Ngoni Ba ensemble. Amy Sacko, Bassekou's wife, performs lead vocals and has been called the "Tina Turner of Mali."
About Bassekou Kouyate, ngoni
Bassekou Kouyate is one of the true masters of the ngoni, an ancient traditional lute found throughout West Africa. He is a virtuoso, innovator, stronghold of tradition all at the same time.
He has collaborated with many musicians in and outside of Mali: He has shared the stages with the likes of Youssou N'Dour, Ali Farka Toure, Bela Fleck, The Kronos Quartet, Taj Mahal, Eliades Ochoa, Damon Albarn, Michael League. He was one of the key musicians on Ali Farka Toure's posthumous album Savane, which was released July 2006; played in the Symmetric trio alongside Toumani Diabate (kora;) and was part of Taj Mahal's Kulanjan project. He won several BBC Awards for his celebrated debut album Segu Blue (Outhere Records), was Grammy nominated for the follow up I speak fula (Outhere Records), and played hundreds of concerts all over the globe, sharing the stage with musicians from Paul McCartney to John Paul Jones, Bono & many many others.
https://bassekoukouyate.com/