Bassekou Kouyate Tickets

Bassekou Kouyate on Tour

Before Bassekou Kouyate, the ngoni — a kind of African lute — was simply a backing instrument. Kouyate changed all that, bringing a rock 'n' roll sensibility to Mali's traditional music and gaining a passel of international fans in the process. 

He's collaborated with U2 and Carlos Santana, among others, and Taj Mahal called him a "genius" for his work on Mahal's collaboration with Toumani Diabate, Kulanjan. Kouyate toured with Bela Fleck in 2010 and was a key part of the AfroCubism tour and Damon Albarn's Africa Express tour in 2012. 

Kouyate's live shows are heady affairs, dense with joyful, virtuosic instrumentation and the soaring vocals of his wife, Amy Sacko. His solo tours include the Jama Ko tour in 2013, the Ba Power tour in 2015, and the Miri tour in 2019.

Bassekou Kouyate Background

Kouyate was born and raised in Garana, Mali, a small town on the banks of the Niger River near Segu. His village was steeped in griot traditions; his father, who taught him to play, was one of Mali's greatest ngoni players — so famous that Radio Mali begged to record him, though he refused. (Kouyate's mother was a praise singer of such renown that people would delay weddings to make sure she could sing at them.) 

The young Bassekou was an indifferent music student, but not because he didn't care. His father eventually realized he was simply faster and more skilled than any of the other students. At age 19, Kouyate moved to Bamako and developed his unique ngoni style, adding strings, changing strumming patterns, and eventually adding a strap so he could play standing up. 

His partnership with the great kora player Toumani Diabate cemented his vision of bringing Mali's griot musical traditions into the modern world. Kouyate became an indispensable part of Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra. He also played on Ali Farka Touré's final album, Savane. 

After Touré's death, Kouyate formed Ngoni Ba, a band featuring not one but four ngonis — an ensemble unheard-of in modern Mali. The music resonated: His debut album, 2007's Segu Blue, won him Album of the Year and African Artist of the Year at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music. His second album, I Speak Fula, was even picked up by Sub Pop. In 2011, Mali's government awarded him the country's highest honor, deeming him a "chevalier de l'ordre national du Mali."