One of Mali’s greatest guitarists, Mamadou Kelly, will be touring North America in July and August with his band Ban Kai Na. A guitar prodigy…
Mamadou Kelly and Ban Kai Na Begin 2016 USA Tour
Tag: Malian music
Artist Profiles: Adama Yalomba
Malian musician Adama Yalomba was born in Bamako in 1970. He plays guitar, ngoni and dan. He became known to western audiences in 2003 thanks…
World Circuit Reissues ‘Moussolou’ by Oumou Sangaré
World Circuit Records has released the classic album ‘Moussolou‘ by Malian world music star Oumou Sangaré. Originally released by World Circuit in 1991 the critically…
Joe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate’s Pleasurable Ride
Joe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate – Monistic Theory (Cumbancha, 2016) It struck me at the time of their first recording Faya (2014) that you couldn’t…
Blazing a New Path for Mali’s Musical Landscape
Oumar Konate – Maya Maya (Clermont Music, 2016) Following up on his 2014 release of Addoh, Malian guitarist and vocalist Oumar Konate has hit the…
Drawing the African Line
Call me a traditionalist, call me a purist, call me a snob, call me a journalistic hack. (Okay, that last one is kind of beside…
Artist Profiles: Abdoulaye Diabate
Abdoulaye Diabate comes from the Segu region of Mali. He was born in 1952, son of Baba Diabate, traditional chief of the Diabate jelis of…
Songhoy Blues, They Will Have to Kill Us First
Auditorium at University of Sheffield Student Union 26 February 2016 Where were the blues born? Were its rough-hewn riffs formed from the mud of the…
Myriad Expressions of Rokia Traoré
Rokia Traoré’s new album “Né So” reveals the various musical sides of the Malian singer-songwriter and guitarist. You’ll find folk-pop, Afropop, Malian roots music, French…
Bassekou Kouyaté and Ngoni Ba to Perform Free Concert at Skirball Cultural Center’s 2015 Sunset Concerts
Bassekou Kouyaté and Ngoni Ba are set to perform on Thursday, July 30, 8:00 p.m. at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Admission is…