Joe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate – Monistic Theory (Cumbancha, 2016) It struck me at the time of their first recording Faya (2014) that you couldn’t…
Joe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate’s Pleasurable Ride
Tag: Malian music
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…
Mande Enchantment
Bako Dagnon Sidiba (Syllart Productions/Discograph, 2010) Bako Dagnon’s Sidiba is one of those feel good CDs out of Mali that shimmers with West Africa’s rich…
Malian Musical Brilliance
Various Artists The Rough Guide to the Music of Mali (World Music Network, 2008) Lately Malian musicians have cut a powerful swath through the music…
Dee Dee Bridgewater Mixes with Mali
This article was published first in Mshale newspaper. After the superlative introduction by Dakota Jazz Club’s owner, Lowell Pickett, I expected a rich, preeminent performance…