BASSEKOU KOUYATE & NGONI BA [MALI]

When we few months ago saw Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba’s performance at the Sauti za Busara Festival in Stonetown, Zanzibar, there where barely no one in the audience who understood what they where singing. This will probably be the case also in Gothenburg. But now as then there will be need for translations.

Bassekou Kouyate speaks his own language. In his case the instrument is called ngoni. It is a ancient traditional lute found throughout West Africa. While most people in west are unfamiliar with this instrument ut has a key position in the Griot culture. Unlike the kora whose history goes back only a few hundred years, the ngoni has been the main instrument in griot storytelling going back to the 13th century during the days of Soundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire. The repertoire Bassekou plays is Bambara music from the region of Segu. Bambara music is pentatonic in nature and as close to the blues as you can get in Africa. Fatboy Slim has given us this description:

-First there was African tribal music which evolved into slave songs which became the blues which gave birth to the funk. Bassekou and his band tell the whole of this journey in one chapter. The most delicious mix of the finest musical ingredients make a stew that warms the heart and shakes the hips. Trust me, it tastes good!

It is not without reason that Bassekou is winning prize after prize not only in his home land but also all around in Africa and in Europe. Segu Blue won ”Best album” in BBC:s Awards for World Music. The album, which is recorded at Studio Bogolan in Bamako by Yves Wernert and mixed in London by Jerry Boys (the man responsible for recording and mixing ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ amongst others), is Bassekou Kouyate’s first solo project. However before the release of the album he previously toured and co-operated with Ali Farka Toure, Toumani Diabate, Taj Mahal’s and Damon Alburn. He also features prominently on Youssou N’Dour’s latest album ‘Rokku mi Rokka’.

On the tour to Sweden he as accompanied with Mali’s first quartet Ngoni ba (”the big ngoni”), two percussion players, and the singer Ami Sacko that, thanks to her the beautiful and emotive voice, is more famous in Mali than Bassekou Kouyate himself. On stage the music takes on a life of its on with high energy music, dance routines and power that would compare to any rock band! This group is fresh, funky but rooted in a traditional style. Dj Mleccha