The wide world of strings

Traditional West African lute player Bassekou Kouyate will perform with his band Nagoni Ba and share a bill with American guitarist and composer Bill Frisell and the Bill Frisell Trio on Friday and Saturday

Posted: March 31, 2010 - 7:08pm

By Emily Goldman

Guitars and ngonis are just two of the stringed instruments being showcased this weekend at the Savannah Music Festival.

Bassekou Kouyate, a musician from Mali, plays a traditional West African lute called the ngoni (pronounced nn-GO-nee).

Bill Frisell, who lives in Seattle, is a Grammy-Award winning American guitarist and composer.

Kouyate and his band Ngoni Ba are sharing a bill this weekend with the Bill Frisell Trio.

Frisell will be performing with percussionist Kenny Wollesen and bassist and guitarist Tony Scherr.

Playing with this particular group is a luxury, Frisell said.

"They are like my brothers, we've been playing together for so long now," he said. "We don't really have to discuss anything or figure things out."

Kouyate has a similarly close relationship with the members of his band, but they are actually related. The group is built around four ngonis, all played by members of Kouyate's family.

Kouyate, whose native language is French, took time to answer questions for DO with the help of a translator.

DO: How do you describe your music?

Kouyate: It has two sides to it, one is very ancient and was the means of communication between rulers, warriors and notable community figures and their professional advisors. The djeli (another word for "griot" or traveling poets, musicians) operated traditionally through music and words that entertained and told rulers about the good deeds of their predecessors, and important things to remember in public life. The other side is the music that was passed later to the rest of the population, telling stories about the community's history, and messages about values that the community wants to see continue: loyalty to the family, admiration for women, young people who behave respectfully, but also to enjoy having fun and above all, dancing.

DO: How does your second album, "I Speak Fula" differ from your first?

Kouyate: "Segu Blue," the first one, was prepared to introduce audiences who didn't know the ngoni - our traditional instrument - to our music. It was the first album ever made centered on a group of ngonis. So we took it gently, played music that was easy on the ear, and got people interested. Fortunately this was successful, so our new album, "I Speak Fula," goes right ahead and begins with a wild number from a Bamana tradition called "Koreduga" that was intended to get everyone dancing from the start.

DO: What is it like making music with your family?

Kouyate: The great advantages are that you really know what each one is capable of doing, you know just how they learned to play and that they have all of the group's repertoire in their blood. Not every member of our family is a musician, but many of them are and their quality is at least partly due to the fact that our children all learn very young, often through listening to older members of the family. For instance my daughter of 13 and a niece of nine were among the best performers in a national competition to scout for young Malian musicians. I didn't even know that my daughter could sing until then!

DO: Why is it important for you to share ngoni music with the world?

Kouyate: Because it is a marvelously versatile instrument that is not limited to a small set of sounds, but can bend around notes, just like the human voice. It has both a great traditional repertoire and the capacity to complement a variety of other kinds of music, and hold its own with them. We want the world to know our music and enjoy it.

Until now it has been a secret kept in West Africa. A few great musicians like Bela Fleck and Taj Mahal got to know about it and have supported us in making it known to our present audience.

DO: What role does your heritage play in the music you create?

Kouyate: It is the basis of all I have learned and what I now create with Ngoni Ba. But it is important to explain that we do not just bring old music off a shelf and play it just like our grandfathers did. It is a central part of the djeli tradition that we are communicators, always creating both music and words. Otherwise people would listen once and not come back for more.

IF YOU GO
What: Bill Frisell Trio/Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
When: Friday and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Where: Charles H. Morris Center, 10 E. Broad St.
Tickets: $32
Information: 912-234-3378 or savannahmusicfestival.org

ON THE WEB
Go to savannahnow.com/do for Savannah Music Festival stories, photos and videos.
Find a complete schedule, listen to music by this year's artists and watch videos of their past performances by going to savannahmusicfestival.org.

FOR TICKETS
Go to scadboxoffice.com or call 912-525-5050 to purchase tickets.