Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

Music from Mali at the Button Factory on Fri 28 May courtesy of the Improvised Music Company. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba between them feature no less than 4 ngoni, the percussive 4-stringed lute that later evolved into the banjo, along with vocals, calabash and percussion. The virtuosic Bassekou Kouyate has done his time with the late Ali Farka Toure, and for the past decade with Toumani Diabate’s Symmetric Orchestra, while his wife Ami Sacko on vocals has been described as the Tina Turner of Bamako. Add in Ngoni Ba, hugely popular in Mali, with two critically acclaimed CDs and a reputation for a killer live show. ‘Disco ngoni through a Fender amp, how cool can you get?!’ says Ian Anderson of Froots. www.improvisedmusic.ie