Bassekou Kouyaté and the blues

By Andrew Gilbert

Correspondent

Posted: 03/18/2010 12:00:00 AM PDT

As a griot, or storyteller, Mali's Bassekou Kouyate traces his musical lineage back to the expansive 13th-century empire founded by Sundiata Keita, a wealthy polity that encompassed a huge swath of West Africa. His ancestors entertained the royal court and every note he plays on the ngoni, a plucked string ancestor of the banjo, embodies a tradition handed down for generations by word-of-mouth.

But Kouyate is not beholden to the past.

Looking to expand possibilities for his instrument, Kouyate transformed the ngoni from its role in the background, where it was traditionally played seated, into a front-line ax wielded while prowling the stage. In his latest innovation, he's built an acoustic band, Ngoni Ba, that performs with the rollicking energy of an R&B combo and the call-and-response cadence of a gospel ensemble (historically, of course, the influence runs the other way across the Atlantic).

Kouyate makes his Bay Area debut with eight-piece Ngoni Ba tonight at Slim's and Friday at Santa Cruz's Rio Theatre, celebrating the release of "I Speak Fula" (Sub Pop/Next Ambiance).

"The ngoni is the griot's identity," Kouyate says. "Even before we had writing, we had the ngoni in our countries. But I was the first ngoni player to lead a band. I created my own way of playing it, which is different from my father's and my grandfather's. Now there are many bands led by ngoni players."

Kouyate has not only transformed the ngoni's role in Mali through his own band and collaborations with kora master Toumani Diabaté; he also contributed to the late great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré's 2006 album "Savane," energized Youssou N'Dour's 2007 CD "Rokku Mi Rokka," and played an essential role on 2009's "Fondo" by Mali's rising guitar star Vieux Farka Touré (son of Ali). He also serves as a musical ambassador, jamming with Bonnie Raitt and Bono, and has an upcoming engagement with jazz guitarist Bill Frisell.

But Kouyate has been most visible in the U.S. through his work with banjo master Béla Fleck, who features him on his Grammy award-nominated project exploring the banjo's African roots, "Throw Down Your Heart." During the first six weeks of the 47-city tour that brings Ngoni Ba to California, the band has been performing on a double bill with Fleck, who's been impressed by Kouyate's sound and sense of purpose.

"Bassekou is on a mission to raise the profile of the ngoni, which he calls the Malian banjo (actually the banjo is the American ngoni)," Fleck wrote in a recent e-mail. "With his incredible band Ngoni Ba, and their fantastic playing and singing, he's sure to reach his goal. I have loved playing with him, and the audiences have gone crazy!"

Kouyate's fierce bandstand energy is what attracted the attention of Sub Pop, a label better known for introducing Seattle's grunge sound than for its international roster. Looking to break through the aural clutter that crowds so much amazing world music out of the American market, Sub Pop created a new imprint, Next Ambiance, and launched it with Kouyate's masterly "I Speak Fula."

Jon Kertzer, a Seattle DJ and guitarist, had been talking with Sub Pop's Jon Poneman for years about releasing more international music. "Bassekou was the crucial ingredient that made us act on it," says Kertzer, Next Ambiance's director of A&R. "He's got a long history in African music, but has become well known in Europe in the last three years. He stepped forward and made the ngoni a lead instrument."

One reason Western audiences respond so readily to some Malian music is that the country's Sahal belt south of the Sahara is a wellspring for the blues. Not that Kouyate realized the connection while growing up in rural isolation. He rarely heard a radio. His musical world was defined by griots from the Bambara tradition performing live.

It wasn't until a friend convinced him to attend a banjo festival in Tennessee in 1990 that he discovered the blood ties between Mali and America during an informal session with Taj Mahal.

"He played blues and I played my pentatonic music," Kouyate recalls. "And he said, 'So, you know the blues?' 'No, I'm played the pentatonic music that we play where I come from.' He was very happy. He said, 'It's great. It's the same thing!'

"I was very happy."

Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba

When: 8 tonight
Where: Slim"s, 333 11th St., San Francisco
Tickets: $20-$25, www.slims-sf.com
Also: 8 p.m. Friday, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave.,
Santa Cruz, $18-$22, www.ticketweb.com