The World Music Festival Bounces Back

MAMADOU KELLY After years of playing under the leadership of Malian guitar greats Ali Farka Touré and Afel Bocoum, singer and guitarist Mamadou Kelly (from the village of Niafunke, like both of them) has stepped out on his own. His recent U.S. debut, Abidar (Clermont Music), is gentler and subtler than Touré's or Bocoum's music—he softly intones his lyrics, his hypnotic guitar arpeggios tickle and float, and his solos seem to whisper—but the total effect is equally powerful. Supported by electric bass, a gourd fiddle called a njarka, and sparse calabash percussion, Kelly casts his spells as if he were singing lullabies, with a soulful intensity in his restraint. Abidar is one of the most exciting new records I've heard come out of Mali in years. —Peter Margasak

Saturday, September 14, 7 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music

Sunday, September 15, 6 PM, Hideout, 21+ (with Leila Gobi, below)