There's so much great music coming out of the West African nation Mali, from the enchanting vocal interplay of the blind couple Amadou & Mariam in the south to the swirling, sizzling guitar trails sparked by the Saharan nomads Tinariwen in the north (and beyond). Mali is such a large country that it's a literal crossroads of many different language and cultures. The ngoni whiz Bassekou Kouyate and his band Ngoni Ba come from the south and, like Amadou & Mariam, live in the capital city, Bamako. They take the traditional ngoni -- a stringed instrument that's a distant relation to the banjo -- and make it do wondrously fast, blurry and inventive things. At different times, Ngoni Ba's namesake instruments sound like banjos, yes, but also like harps, flamenco guitars, sitars, harpsichords and violins. For all of the music's spiritual affinity with blues and American roots, the nimbly plucked arrangement of the title track of Kouyate's new CD, I Speak Fula (on Sub Pop, of all labels), almost evokes traditional Japanese stringed music. The way the notes come flying out of the variously toned ngonis, in thick flurries of intricate patterns, is frequently dazzling, but the notes aren't just flashy. They flow seamlessly within the songs, insinuating themselves within the dreamy melodies of lead singer Amy Sacko (Kouyate's wife) rather than competing against them. Guest stars like Vieux Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate just add to the bewitching brew. Kouyate & Ngoni Ba hit the Getty on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., and also end up at Amoeba Music on Sunday at 7 p.m..2FM