Bassekou Kouyaté

About Bassekou Kouyaté

Ngoni virtuoso from the village of Garana on the Niger River, born into one of Mali's deepest jeli families. His band Ngoni Ba, formed with his wife and singer Amy Sacko, restored the four-string ngoni to international concert stages and won three Songlines Awards. He has recorded with Taj Mahal, Béla Fleck, and Damon Albarn, and his protest album Ba Power (2015) responded directly to the 2012 northern Mali music ban.