Baba Sissoko has lived in Europe for quite some time (including Belgium and Italy). He has collaborated with a wide variety of artists (Ibrahim Ferrer, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Salif Keita and Habib Koité) but the music on this album is Malian through and through. Sissoko plays the guitar and the ngoni, a kind of African lute. Djekafo is a tribute to Mali and especially the cultural diversity of the
… country, which consists of no fewer than 64 different ethnic groups. He is accompanied by a large number of guest musicians, of which singer Afel Bocoum and ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate are perhaps best known among African music lovers. Djekafo has the tranquil character of those typical Malian blues. With eyes closed and listening to Masaya's heaving rhythm, the listener is carried on the back of a camel as it sets out into the desert night. The bald Yafa is a tribute to Ali Farka Touré. (PdK)more