Search - Bassi Kouyate :: Mali: Songs of Bambara Griot

Amazing skills of a Bambara Griot

papaian | Bay Area, CA USA | 12/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is a superb example of the presitigious skills of one of Mali's numerous griots. Bassi Kouyate stands out among his contemporaries for he not only sings with a wonderful sweet baritone but plays with great virtuosity the tamani (talking drum) and feli n'goni (traditional four-string lute, as well as an instrument I've never heard a griot play before --the 12-string guitar. Bassi makes the 12-string sound like a kora as he plays Sunjata Faasa, and his skills on the 6-string are something to be reckoned with as well. If you want to hear outstanding music in the Mande tradition, this is a must-have CD."