Habib Koite in concert at UCSB’s Campbell Hall, February 3.

Motherlode music from Africa hit Campbell Hall in a seductive double header, reminding us, in case we had forgotten, from whence the planet’s groove imperative comes.  Marrakech-born musician Hassan Hakmoun and Malian guitarist-singer Habib Koite both freely interface with musical ideas from the West, but the essence comes from particular, indigenous African traditions.

A captivating voice with both vocal cords and guitar, Koite was making a return trip to this venue with his nimble six-piece band Bamada – meaning both a resident of Bamaki, Mali and something about “the mouth of the crocodile.” The group’s instrumentation straddles the African-American divide, with two electric acoustic guitars, electric bass, and drum kit, as well as Keletigui Diabate on the sensuously thrumming balaphon (and occasional violin) and Mahammadou Kone on African percussion, a showman foil for Koite’s own warm central presence. Support guitarist Boubacar Sidibe adds the fresh texture of chromatic harmonica melodies.

Culture bridging is key to Koite’s unique finger style guitar work. Playing nylon-string guitar, his rippling sonorities, hammer-ons, and liberal use of open strings and a capo conspires towards a sound resembling the traditional Malian instrument, the kamla n’goni or the harp like kora. Koite and band, whose latest album is a juicy two-disc live set Foly! (Word Village), comes alive in the present tense vortex of a concert setting.

At Campbell Hall, they expectedly sparked the room with a sound colored by notions both ancient and modern, relevant to Mali and Memphis (to paraphrase the tour he was a part in 1999). The full house was entranced

JOSEF WOODARD