Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba North American Tour 2010 Announced

Tuesday, November 24 2009 @ 01:27 AM EST

Contributed by: WMC_News_Dept.

Malian sensation Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba wil be touring North America to promote the release of their second album. Since 2005, Bassekou has led Ngoni Ba, the first-ever group built around not one but four ngonis-all played by members of his family. The group's second CD I Speak Fula comes out on Sub Pop in February of 2010 (preceded by a digital release via iTunes in December '09) on the occasion of Bassekou's first North American tour as a headliner. Bela Fleck will join the group on stage for a number of shows.

Bassekou's longtime friend and booster Lucy Duran (a BBC radio host, record producer, and Mande music scholar) produced the band's debut, Segu Blue. Before long, Bassekou and Ngoni Ba were touring Europe and in high demand. I Speak Fula builds on the success of Segu Blue . Its 11 tracks provide a star-studded tour of pan-Malian music, including collaborations with Toumani Diabaté, griot vocal legend Kasse Mady Diabaté, master of the horse-hair soku fiddle Zoumana Tereta, and guitar phenomenon Vieux Farka Toure, Ali's precociously talented son.